MICHAEL SULLIVAN & ASSOCIATES BLOG

The California HR (CAHR) conference is less than a month away – are you planning to attend? Michael Sullivan and Associates is a proud sponsor of this year's conference taking place at the Anaheim Convention Center May 8th through May 10th. CAHR22 offers education and an opportunity to network with HR professionals statewide. Hear speakers share their experiences on challenges affecting operations, regulatory changes, and best practices for managing human resources. PIHRA has designed this conference for both in-person and virtual attendees, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to earn continuing education credits and find empowerment among your community. To register for the conference, go to https://cahrconference.org.

Effective Jan. 1, 2022, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) amended its Rules of Practice and Procedure to permit electronic service, including via email. The Labor Code, however, previously recognized electronic service of a request for authorization (RFA) for medical treatment. Specifically, LC 4610(i)(1) states: "The request for authorization and supporting documentation may be submitted electronically under rules adopted by the administrative director."

On March 9, 2022, the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) announced that in-person hearings will resume starting March 21, 2022, at almost all of the DWC district offices. The only exceptions are Eureka, which is now a completely virtual office, and satellite locations Bishop, Marysville, Chico and Ukiah, which also will remain virtual.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has updated its Workers' Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Arrangement (WCMSA) Reference Guide (Reference Guide). The latest version, Version 3.5, was published Jan. 10, 2022. The Reference Guide was updated to clarify the use of non-CMS-approved products to address future medical care.

A case currently pending in the Supreme Court of the United States could spell a big win for California employers this summer, allowing them to foreclose a wider range of group employee lawsuits using arbitration agreements.

On February 9, 2022, Governor Newsom signed into law a Covid Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (“SPSL”) which will become effective on February19 and will be retroactive to...

On Tuesday a deal was struck between Gov. Newsom and California lawmakers to provide a new Supplemental Sick Leave similar to the one that expired on September 30. Those who follow my webinars may recall I predicted this would occur in delayed fashion after the 9/30 expiration (e.g. the March 2021 retroactive extension), but this was well beyond any predicted delay. Although not yet in final form, here are the components we expect:

It has long been recognized that an employee's ability to participate vocational retraining is a significant factor that must be considered in assessing the worker's permanent disability. (LeBoeuf v. WCAB (1983) 48 CCC 587, 597.) An employee's inability to compete in the open labor market could support an award of permanent total disability. Even though vocational rehabilitation was repealed and replaced with the supplemental job displacement benefit, in Ogilvie v. WCAB (2011) 76 CCC 624, the Court of Appeal held that an employee could still rebut a scheduled rating by establishing that he or she was not amenable to rehabilitation.