SB 1159 Reporting Requirements

What do employers have to report when an employee tests positive for COVID-19?

When the employer knows or reasonably should know that an employee has tested positive for COVID-19, the employer shall report to their workers’ compensation claims administrator (Sedgwick) in writing via electronic mail or facsimile within three business days the following:

1. An employee has tested positive. For purposes of this reporting, the employer shall not provide any personally identifiable information regarding the employee who tested positive for COVID-19.
2. The date that the employee tests positive, which is the date the specimen was collected for testing. [Note: the test must be a viral test and cannot be an antibody test.]
3. The specific address or addresses of the employee’s “specific place of employment”* during the 14-day period preceding the date of the employee’s positive test.
4. The highest number of employees who reported to work at the employee’s specific place of employment in the 45-day period preceding the last day the employee worked at each specific place of employment.
5. If a specific place of employment was ordered closed by a local public health department, the State Department of Public Health, the Division of Occupational Safety, and Health, or a school superintendent due to a risk of infection with COVID-19, provide this information to the claims administrator as well.

How do I report the required information?

The workers’ compensation third party claims administrator Sedgwick is implementing a reporting system that will serve to meet the claims administrator’s responsibilities under SB 1159.  County departments will submit positive test information into the portal provided by Sedgwick.  You can report COVID-19 positive tests by completing the Sedgwick provided spreadsheet and email it to COVIDreporting@Sedgwick.com.  Additionally, Sedgwick has provided a portal for COVID-19 positive reporting.  The Sedgwick portal is located at https://Intake.sedgwick.com/u/outbreak/positiveresult.

Click here to see the access code and the CAPTCHA that appears on your login page (different for each user) are required to access the site.

What information and in what format do I report the information?

• Reporter Name
• Reporter e-mail address
• Department
• Date employer had knowledge of positive test
• Date of positive test (date specimen collected)
• The specific address or addresses of the employee's specific place of employment during the 14-day period preceding the date of the employee's positive test
• The highest number of employees who reported to work at the employee’s specific place of employment in the 45-day period preceding the last day the employee worked at each specific place of employment.

Do I have to report a workers’ compensation claim even though some information was submitted to Sedgwick’s SB 1159 reporting system?

Yes, a workers’ compensation claim must be reported in compliance with current reporting standards.  Two separate systems will be in place.  One for capturing the reporting data required under SB 1159 and the second for opening a workers’ compensation claim.

What do employers have to report for employees that tested positive for COVID-19 for the period July 6, 2020 to September 16, 2020?

Any employer who is aware of an employee testing positive on or after July 6, 2020, and prior to September 16, 2020, shall report to their claims administrator, in writing via electronic mail or facsimile, within 30 business days of the effective date (September 17, 2020) of this section, the reporting data required (above). The employer shall report the highest number of employees who reported to work at each of the employee’s specific places of employment on any given work day between July 6, 2020 and September 16, 2020.

*What is a “specific place of employment”?

“A specific place of employment” means the building, store, facility, or agricultural field where an employee performs work at the employer’s direction. “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.  If the employee worked at multiple places of employment during this period, provide the specific address of each of these locations.

How will Sedgwick use the information that is being reported?

Sedgwick will use the information to determine if an “outbreak” occurred.  If it is determined an outbreak occurred a rebuttable presumption will be applied to workers’ compensation claims reported from the location and during the period of the “outbreak.”

SB 1159 can be viewed at the following site:

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB1159