Happy Monday dear readers! Your humble blogger welcomes you back from marathon revelry!  Christmas and New Year gave us all three-to-four day weekends and the time in between was probably not the easiest to focus during.  So, now that we are all back and hungry to dig into our work again, I thought it only appropriate to welcome you back with a relatively light post.  Here you go:

Ok, now that you’ve had your light post, let’s talk about dealing with workers’ comp in 2021.

If you have an injured worker out on temporary disability, you might check if the hourly wage for that worker was the state minimum wage.  While the state-wide minimum wage as of January 1, 2020 was $12/hr for employers with under 26 employees, and $13/hr for employers with over 25 employees, both of those have gone up $1/hr.  Accordingly, the likely TD rate has gone up as well and should be recalculated.

With respect to mileage reimbursement, the IRS has decreased reimbursement from 57.5 cents for 2020 to 56 cents per mile for 2021.  Some applicant attorneys and employees might “forget” that the rate has been reduced and may submit mileage reimbursements requests on the old rate.  Those 1.5 cents/mile reimbursements can add up quick, especially when the employee travels from more rural areas to reach a physician, so be aware! You can find the updated forms here.

Also, let’s not forget that AB685 is now in effect, which imposes pretty arduous requirements on employers to notify employees of potential COVID19 exposure and their rights to benefits, including workers’ compensation.  Employers should brush up on the requirements of AB685 and be ready to comply to avoid paying big bucks to the state. 

This year is absolutely going to present its own challenges, but we are now more hardened than ever and ready for it.  At least, that is your humble blogger’s opinion.  See you on Wednesday!