Lawmakers continue to push essential worker bills

Lawmakers in four states pushed workers compensation legislation over the past week to enhance benefits for essential workers performing job duties during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Monday, lawmakers in Louisiana read for a second time S.B. 475, which aims to amend state workers comp law to state that every essential worker who is disabled because of the contraction of the disease, COVID-19, or the dependent of an essential worker whose death is caused by COVID-19, shall be entitled to workers compensation benefits. The bill classifies an essential worker as “persons working in public safety, government, disaster response, health care, or private business as designated and deemed necessary or critical for response to the COVID-19.” That bill was sent to committee.

The Vermont House is now considering S.B. 364, which unanimously passed the Senate on Friday and proposes to create the “Essential Employees Hazard Grant Program” for the payment of grants to employees performing essential work that exposes them to an increased risk of contracting COVID-19.

New York lawmakers on Friday introduced and sent to committee S.B. 8266, which seeks to classify COVID-19 as an occupational illness for more than a dozen types of workers, including those working in nursing homes, train stations, daycare centers, retail outlets and more.

In Michigan, H.B. 5758 aims to create an infectious disease presumption for essential workers during states of emergency. That bill, introduced on Thursday and sent to committee,  aims to classify an essential employee as an “individual who is required to work during a state declared emergency because he or she is considered necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum operations during a time that the state has ordered the closure of all businesses that are considered nonessential.”

More insurance and workers compensation news on the coronavirus crisis here.