California lawmakers last week passed most 2022 legislative session workers compensation bills ahead of Friday’s deadline to move bills out of the chamber in which they were introduced.
Lawmakers advanced bills that would extend COVID-19 presumptions for two more years; reduce the time for employers to determine liability before a claim is presumed compensable; request studies into the effects of high heat and humidity on workers; change utilization review rules; and address potential cost-shifting in the temporary staffing industry.
One notable bill that failed was a measure that would have used workers comp benefits to try to close the gap in earnings between men and women, which wasn’t passed before an earlier deadline in May and is likely out of consideration for the rest of the session.
WorkCompCentral is a sister publication of Business Insurance. More stories here.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.