California News in Brief

Newsom announces COVID-19 workers' comp. Governor Gavin Newsom announced in early May that workers who contract COVID-19 while on the job may be eligible to receive workers' compensation benefits. Newsom signed an order creating a time-limited rebuttable presumption for accessing workers' comp benefits applicable to Californians who must work outside their homes during a stay-at-home order. Workers will be eligible for the rebuttable presumption if they test positive for COVID-19 and the diagnosis is confirmed by a positive test within 14 days of them performing labor or services at a workplace after the stay-at-home order was issued on March 19. The presumption will stay in place for 60 days after the issuance of the May 6 Executive Order. (For detailed coverage of this Executive Order, see "CA governor confers COVID-19 'presumption' for all who worked during shelter in place" on pg. 3.)

Attorney general joins call for protections for meat, poultry workers. State Attorney General Xavier Becerra has joined a group of 20 attorneys general calling on President Donald Trump to provide protections for meat and poultry processing plant workers who may be working in unsafe conditions because of the president's Executive Order (EO) invoking the Defense Production Act. In a letter to the president, the coalition called on the administration to take immediate action to ensure the safety of those essential workers. The group says that without enforceable mandates to protect the workers, Trump's EO will perpetuate the spread of illness and death from COVID-19.