Workers Compensation Attorneys for Directors, Officers & Partners
Changes in California Workers Compensation
for Officers, Directors & Working Partners-
Any time workers comp laws are extended to improve benefits for employees, our workers compensation attorneys want to spread the word.
Late last year California passed new legislation that now extends mandatory workers compensation benefits to certain previously unprotected employees of a company.
Our Long Beach attorneys are pleased to report that with the passage and signing of Assembly Bill 2883 a company’s officers, directors and partners are now required to be covered under the employer’s workers’ compensation policy.
Prior to the passage of this legislation, the officers, directors and working partners of a company were not required to be covered under the business’s workers’ compensation policy – unless they “opted in” to be covered (and were not listed on an insurance endorsement limiting or restricting their coverage).
However, now officers, directors and partners are required to be covered under every employer’s workers’ compensation policy – unless they fall into a small category of excluded employees. To be “excluded” from workers compensation coverage, a company’s officers, directors, and partners can only “opt out” of coverage IF they sign a waiver (under penalty of perjury) AND they file the waiver with their employer’s workers compensation insurer.
Law Requires Workers Compensation for Officers, Directors & Partners
In other words, under the old law officers, directors and partners were more or less automatically excluded from workers compensation benefits unless they “opted in”. But under the new law, officers, directors and partners are automatically included in workers compensation benefits unless they specifically “opted out”.
And, according to the Department of Industrial Relations, the American Insurers Association, and the Association of California Insurance Companies, this law applies to workers compensation policies already “in-force”, in addition to any newly issued policies.
Notices were issued to all workers’ compensation insurers so that they would know and understand the new legal requirement of providing workers compensation coverage to their officers, directors and partners. And the insurers were required to identify and provide notice to any and every employer that may have employees that were previously excluded from coverage and are affected by the new law.
However, the workers compensation insurers – and many employers – are not happy about the change in law because it will add extra costs for them. So, unfortunately, certain unscrupulous employers may not advise their officers, directors and working partners that the law has changed in the event that they are injured or made ill in the workplace.
Because this is a new law, and because many employers may try to avoid this responsibility, it is essential to discuss your case with an experienced workers compensation attorney.
Best Long Beach Workers Compensation Attorneys
If you are an injured employee, officer, director or partner – and you live or work in Long Beach, Orange County or the Los Angeles area – we offer a free consultation with an experienced Workers Compensation attorney. Call us today and we will help you understand your rights and collect the maximum workers’ compensation or disability benefits for which you qualify.
