Types of injuries

COVID-19 and long COVID workers' comp claims in California

By the Work Injury Compass editorial team · Last updated November 2026 · How we write and check guides

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What the SB 1159 presumptions were

Senate Bill 1159 was signed on September 17, 2020. It added three sections to the Labor Code. Each made it easier for certain workers to show that COVID-19 came from their job:

• Labor Code §3212.86 wrote the Governor's earlier executive-order presumption into law. It covered workers who got COVID-19 between March 19 and July 5, 2020, and who had worked at their job site (not at home) at the employer's direction within 14 days before a positive test or diagnosis.
• Labor Code §3212.87 (the "frontline" presumption) covered firefighters, peace officers, many health care workers and certain other frontline employees who tested positive within 14 days after working at their job site, from July 6, 2020 on.
• Labor Code §3212.88 (the "outbreak" presumption) covered employees of employers with five or more workers who tested positive within 14 days after working at a specific job site during an outbreak there, from July 6, 2020 on.

The presumptions were rebuttable: the employer could present evidence that the worker caught COVID-19 somewhere else. They also shortened the insurer's time to accept or deny a COVID claim from the normal 90 days to 30 days (frontline claims) or 45 days (outbreak claims).

When they ended

The frontline and outbreak presumptions were extended once and then expired on January 1, 2024. DIR's COVID-19 workers' compensation page says so directly: the presumptions "are no longer in effect," and employees "still may establish the compensability of COVID-19 claims under the standard rules for compensability for diseases." The §3212.86 presumption only ever applied to illness between March 19 and July 5, 2020.

If you filed a claim while a presumption applied, it was decided under the law in force at the time. If you have an older COVID claim that was never resolved, or a new question about it, call DWC Information & Assistance (1-800-736-7401) to check its status.

How a COVID-19 claim is proven today

Without a presumption, COVID-19 is handled like any other illness you claim you caught at work. You have to show, with medical evidence, that it's reasonably probable your employment caused it. Things that help:

• A documented exposure: a coworker, patient or customer who tested positive and who you were in close contact with.
• An outbreak at your job site: employer notices, testing notices, or a site closure.
• Job duties that put you in contact with sick people or crowds, such as health care, home care, corrections, transit, public-facing retail or food processing lines.
• Fewer outside exposures: household members who tested negative, no travel, and so on.
• A positive test with its date, and the dates you worked before it.

Write these facts down now, while you still remember them. The insurer has the normal 90 days to decide after you file the claim form, and if it doesn't deny within that time the claim is presumed compensable (Labor Code §5402; see the 90-day rule).

Long COVID

Long COVID, meaning fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog, heart or lung problems lasting months, can be part of a work-related COVID claim. You need two things: that the original infection was work-related, and that a doctor links your ongoing symptoms to it. Practical points:

• If your original COVID claim was accepted, ongoing symptoms can be claimed as part of that injury. Ask your treating doctor to request the care you need (pulmonology, cardiology, neurology, rehabilitation) through the claim.
• If you never filed a claim, you still may be able to. For occupational diseases, the "date of injury" is when you first had disability and knew, or should have known, that work caused it (Labor Code §5412), and the one-year limit to file with the WCAB runs from that date (see the one-year deadline).
• Disputes about long COVID usually come down to medical opinion, so a QME or AME evaluation is common.
• Lasting impairment can lead to permanent disability.

Benefits available

An accepted COVID-19 claim gets the same benefits as any other: medical treatment, temporary disability while a doctor keeps you off work (2026 injuries: $264.61 to $1,764.11 a week), permanent disability if impairment remains, and death benefits for dependents if a worker died of a work-related COVID infection.

First responders and health care workers today

Firefighters and many peace officers still have other presumptions in the Labor Code §3212 series, for example for pneumonia, heart trouble and certain infectious diseases. Whether one applies to a COVID-related condition depends on the exact diagnosis and job classification. See first responder presumptions.

What to do now

• Report the illness to your employer in writing and ask for a DWC-1 claim form.
• Gather your test results, work schedule and any exposure or outbreak notices.
• Get treatment and tell every provider you believe you caught it at work.
• If the claim is denied, read what to do after a denial.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different. For free help from the state, call the DWC Information & Assistance unit at 1-800-736-7401.