DWC Emergency Regulations for Medical-Legal Evaluations and Reporting in Response to COVID-19 in Effect through January 11, 2022

Release Number: 2021-99
Date: October 4, 2021

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) announces its emergency regulations 36.7 and 46.2 for medical-legal evaluations and reporting, which became effective on May 14, 2020 and were set to expire in October 2021, have been extended until January 11, 2022.

The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the emergency regulations on September 30. This is DWC’s second and final re-adoption in accordance with Government Code section 11346.1(h).

These emergency regulations help injured workers and employers continue to move their workers’ compensation claims toward a resolution and avoid additional and undue delay by addressing how medical-legal evaluations may proceed during this emergency period and providing alternative means for service of required forms related to medical-legal evaluations and reports.

The California Department of Industrial Relations, established in 1927, protects and improves the health, safety, and economic well-being of over 18 million wage earners, and helps their employers comply with state labor laws. DIR is housed within the Labor & Workforce Development Agency