New Jersey business coalition urges policymakers to end COVID-19 workers’ comp liability
The New Jersey Business & Industry Association is asking Governor Phil Murphy and state lawmakers to nullify a law signed in 2020 that creates a legal presumption an essential workers’ contraction of COVID-19 during a declared public health emergency is work-related. In addition to the group’s argument that the virus can be transmitted anywhere by anyone at any time, it also notes recent media reports of employees faking positive COVID-19 tests to receive workers’ compensation. Insider NJ
Will first responder workers’ comp law impact Amarillo’s budget?
A Texas law that took effect this past summer essentially creates a presumption that first responders who die from or are disabled by any disease, including COVID-19, which was the basis for the bill, contracted it on the job, and can file for workers’ compensation. It has left one part of the city of Amarillo’s budget significantly lower than usual and leaders are trying to figure out how to pay for it moving forward. An assistant city manager last week said the last fiscal year saw an increase of 231% in workers’ comp claims since the bill was enacted. The city’s first responders workers comp claims increased 792% in that same period. KAMR/KCIT/Myhighplains.com
Some Minneapolis council members question surge of payouts to cops claiming PTSD
Two new Minneapolis City Council members voted against spending more than $2 million to settle 11 workers’ compensation claims with city employees, almost all of them police officers. The first year post-traumatic stress disorder was deemed by the state to be a qualifying injury was 2014, but the city had just a handful of claims annually until 2019, when a new state law took effect that assumes if first responders have PTSD, it is job-related. The number of workers’ comp claims nearly doubled the previous decade’s average in 2020, with scores of police officers filing claims saying they suffered PTSD. That claim is now cited in a large portion of the city’s workers’ comp claims, city officials say. Minnesota Reformer
Missouri: Private businesses account for majority of workplace injuries
The Missouri Department of Labor says more than half of the about 53,600 reported workplace injuries or illnesses in 2020 were among employees of private businesses. Slips, trips and falls were among the most common causes of injury, accounting for 15.6% of cases. Another of the most common injuries is muscle strain caused by overexertion. News-Press Now