may-jun-2020

ADVOCACY REPORT Staying Grounded During Shifting Winds In the face of adversity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, agriculture continues to work around the clock as part of the critical infrastructure in our nation to ensure a safe and secure food supply. Blue Diamond and all of our members have worked tirelessly to implement additional health and safety measures to protect employees while continuing to grow, process and ship nutritious food during an unprecedented time. As a trade association representing farmer-owned businesses at the state level, Ag Council maintains a regular channel of communication with Governor Newsom’s administration to convey issues that arise during this uncertain moment in our history. One of those policy areas is workers’ compensation. As anticipated, Governor Newsom announced an executive order on May 6 to implement temporary changes to workers’ compensation relating to COVID-19. The executive order contains a rebuttable presumption applying to those who work outside of the home at the direction of their employer. Under the order, a positive test for the virus is presumed to be “work related” if contracted within 14 days after the employee performed work. An employer can controvert the presumption with other evidence under certain constraints. After a great deal of advocacy, Ag Council appreciates the parameters placed around the executive order, such as requiring a positive COVID-19 test or diagnosis, the limited timeframe the order is in place from March 19, 2020 through July 5, 2020 and that sick leave benefits must be used first. At the same time, we understand the importance of workers’ compensation and the economic repercussions the executive order could have on our members. As a result, Ag Council partnered with other agricultural associations to release a joint statement, which can be found at www.agcouncil.org/labor-2. Because the California State Legislature is considering bills on workers’ compensation that may have longer-term impacts than the temporary changes in the order, a unified front with other associations is beneficial and demonstrates how significant this policy issue is to the agricultural community. 2 6 A L M O N D F A C T S