Did you get COVID?

Dec 23, 2020

If you got COVID-19, you maybe be entitled to benefits even if you are not sure if you got it at work.

If you got COVID, it is important that you call an attorney to determine if you can get workers’ compensation benefits, even if you are not sure if you got it from work. Benefits can include everything from temporary disability payments while you get better, medical treatment, and permanent disability compensation for any permanent effects that you may suffer.  

Even if you are feeling better, you should call an attorney as there are potential long term effects to the heart, lungs, and brain that can linger for years. 

There have been numerous new laws relating to COVID and you will need an attorney to help you to navigate through the system. One such example is SB 1159. Governor Gavin Newsom on September 17, 2020, signed SB 1159 which codifies the COVID-19 presumption created by Executive Order N-62-20 and provides two new rebuttable presumptions that an employee’s COVID-19 illness is an occupational injury and therefore eligible for workers’ compensation benefits if specified criteria are met. Employees who are sick can stay home and be provided workers’ compensation benefits, thereby reducing the spread of the virus to others at work and in the community.  

This means that you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits! If you got COVID between March 19 and July 5, 2020, and you were working, it is presumed that you got it from that job. This means that even if you are not sure if you got it at work, or at home, you will qualify for Workers’ Compensation benefits! Even if you get it after July 5th, and you are a first responder or health care worker, you qualify to get benefits without proving you got Covid at work.  

Even if the presumption is not applicable to you, you may still be able to file a workers’ compensation claim for a COVID-19-related illness. If you are an employee and suffer a job-related injury or illness, you are entitled to file for workers’ compensation benefits. You should tell your employer that you would like to file a workers’ compensation claim. They are then required to provide you with a claim form. If you don’t qualify for a presumption under the new law, you may still be eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits if you contracted COVID-19 at work. 
Remember, if you got COVID, it is important that you call an attorney to determine if you can get workers’ compensation benefits, even if you are not sure if you got it from work.  

Benefits can include everything from temporary disability payments while you get better, medical treatment, and permanent disability compensation for any permanent effects that you may suffer.  

Even if you are feeling better, you should call an attorney as there are potential long term effects to the heart, lungs, and brain that can linger for years. 

Stay safe, and if you did get COVID, call us, and let us be your voice. 

Share by: