California Governor Extends Injury Benefits to Essential Workers

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has deemed essential workers eligible for Covid-19 related workers’ compensation, a designation that makes covered employees who contract the virus eligible for additional benefits after they use up sick leave.

Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday to extend workers’ compensation benefits during the coronavirus pandemic to all essential workers, including grocery employees and farmworkers. The move follows a previous order to provide those benefits to health-care employees and first responders that become sick.

The order also makes it easier for essential workers to prove that they got sick on the job. It creates a “rebuttable ...