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COVID-19 Information

We continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on the country and follow guidelines issued by government health authorities, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and local agencies. Through an established but fluid Business Continuity Plan that includes remote access for our work force as needed, our goal is to minimize any disruption in service levels while also ensuring the ongoing safety of our employees.

As circumstances change, we remain committed to reacting timely and appropriately to state and federal mandates which help to assist our policyholders, claimants, and agents.

Warnings

We want all of our policyholders to be aware of the heightened risk of scams and price gouging during financial disruptions, and we would like to remind you to contact your insurance agent before purchasing unsolicited insurance policies or changing the terms of current insurance policies.

COVID-19: Notice To California Policyholders

Posted 10/12/20

EMPLOYER REPORTING OBLIGATIONS Regarding COVID-19
Effective 09/17/2020 – 01/01/2023

An employer who intentionally submits false or misleading information OR fails to submit information timely is subject to a civil penalty up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

As of September 17, 2020, new California legislations titled SB 1159 was signed into law and will be effective immediately. This new law requires all Employers who have five (5) or more Employees to report all Employees who test positive for COVID-19 to their Workers’ Compensation Claims Administrator. This reporting requirement applies to all employees that test positive for COVID-19 for both work-related and non-work-related cases.

EMPLOYER’S REPORTING OBLIGATIONS

For any Employee who tests positive for COVID-19 between July 6, 2020 and September 16, 2020 the employer must report specified information, as described below, to the Claims Administrator by October 29, 2020 (30 business days from the effective date of SB 1159).

For any Employee who tests positive for COVID-19 on or after September 17, 2020, you must report to your Claims Administrator within three (3) business days. Once the Employer knows or ‘reasonably should know’ that an employee has tested positive for COVID-19, the employer must do all of the following:

1. Report a claim to us in writing:
   REPORT NEW CLAIMS
   Fax: 203-903-0387
   Email: claims@NLF-info.com
2. If an Employee believes they contracted COVID-19 at work, Employers will be required to report this as a Workers’ Compensation claim to us and provide the Employee with a DWC-1 Claim Form.
3. If an Employer or an Employee believes the COVID-19 infection was not the result of workplace exposure, the Employer will still be required to report this occurrence. When making the report, the do not include any personally identifiable information for Employee(s) who have not alleged a workplace exposure. We will record this information on a report only basis.

Ready to Report a COVID-19 claim?

Important Deadlines:

Current COVID-19 Claims: For any Employee who tested positive for COVID-19 on or after September 17, 2020, you must report to your Claims Administrator within three (3) business days.

Past COVID-19 Claims: For any Employee who tested positive for COVID-19 between July 6, 2020 and September 16, 2020, the Employer will have until October 29, 2020, to report a claim to their Workers’ Compensation Claims Administrator.

Required Information:

When reporting a claim, the Employer will be required to provide ALL of the following information:

• The last day worked of the infected COVID-19 Employee: The date of injury for Employees who tested positive for COVID-19, is determined by the Employee’s last day worked, not when they began to feel symptoms of COVID-19.
• The date the Employee tested positive for COVID-19: This means the date on which the specimen was collected for testing and NOT when the results of the test come out.
• Medical Documentation of a positive test result: Employees must provide medical documentation from a doctor confirming a positive test for COVID-19. Please ask for this documentation, record the date you requested it and the date received. You are required to maintain these records in the employee’s file. It is recommended the requests be made in writing.
• Place(s) of employment: Provide the address(es) of all locations the infected employee worked 14 days prior to testing positive and all locations the infected employee worked 14 days after testing positive for COVID-19. The law defines a specific place of employment as, “A specific place of employment’ means the building, store, facility, or agricultural field where an employee performs work at the employer’s direction.” In the case of an employee who performs work at the employer’s direction in multiple places of employment within 14 days of the employee’s positive test, the employee’s positive test shall be counted for each of those places of employment for the purpose of determining an outbreak. If an outbreak exists at any of those places of employment, that location is also considered the employee’s specific place of employment. A specific place of employment does not include the employee’s home or residence, unless the employee provides home health care services to another individual at the employee’s home or residence.
• Number of Employees that tested positive for COVID-19 at each worksite: The employer must provide the highest number of employees who worked at each place of employment with the infected Employee(s) on any day during that period of time.

Interested in learning more about SB 1159 and other laws related to COVID-19? Please visit https://www.labor.ca.gov/coronavirus2019/ for more information.

Please note, the information contained herein regarding California law is for informational purposes only. National Liability & Fire Insurance Company does not provide legal advice to its insurance policyholders. Please consult your legal counsel or other professional for legal advice regarding your obligations under California law.