The California legislature recently passed SB 1159, significantly expanding the governor’s executive order (N-62-20) of May 6 (“Executive Order”) regarding workers’ compensation and employer liability for COVID-19.

The Executive Order created a rebuttable presumption[1] that any employee diagnosed with COVID-19 from March 19 to July 5, who had visited the workplace at the direction of their employer and received positive results within 14 days of such visit, was presumed to have contracted the disease on the job, and therefore, could file a workers’ compensation claim.

Since our original post, the State of California has released a revised version of the COVID-19 employer playbook, which is now called the “COVID-19 Employer Playbook: Supporting a Safer Environment for Workers and Customers.” According to this updated guidance:

The California Department of Public Health recently released detailed guidance for employers who are trying to understand their obligations during the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening is intended to help businesses plan and prepare to reopen safely and mitigate the risks for workers and customers.

Over the past few days, Governor Charlie Baker’s office has released guidance for employers on its phased reopening of the Massachusetts economy.  The plan to reopen includes a carefully planned, four-phase approach which addresses which businesses can open when, and what requirements those businesses must follow in order to resume operations.  Each phase will last a minimum of three weeks or longer, before transitioning to the next phase, though public health trends may require the state, or certain regions, to revert back to previous phases.

Outside GC's immigration team shares important immigration-related developments below:

Although the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) received additional funding on April 24^th, many small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis still report difficulty with navigating the application process. The Treasury Department has responded by issuing more PPP-related guidelines and information on its CARES Act assistance page.

When the federal government announced the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) several weeks ago, making available $349 billion for loans to small businesses impacted the COVID-19 health crisis, borrowers scrambled to submit loan applications in accordance with the “first-come, first-served” process. On April 16th, PPP funds were depleted, leaving many small businesses empty-handed. In response to the continued need, the government has approved additional funds for both the PPP and the SBA’s other loan program that can be used to reduce the impact of COVID-19, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program ("EIDL Program”).

Last night, President Trump signed a Proclamation restricting immigration to the U.S. for certain foreign nationals. The order takes effect at 11:59pm EDT on April 23, 2020 and is effective for 60 days (and may be continued depending on labor market conditions.)