News Digest 1-6-2022

 

Workers’ comp, cannabis bills in play in Maryland

Among the bills the Maryland House and Senate will discuss in the new session cover cannabis legalization and workers’ compensation for frontline employees. Senate Bill 10, in particular, would provide workers’ comp eligibility to first responders, public safety employees, and healthcare employees. Those who have tested positive for COVID-19 would be eligible for benefits retroactive to March 1, 2020, the beginning of the pandemic. Southern Maryland Chronicle

 

USVI announces workers’ compensation administration rates

The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Labor has announced the Workers’ Compensation Administration rates effective January 1, 2022. The established average weekly wage based on employment wage statistics from the Virgin Islands Bureau of Labor Statistics is $986.93 per week. St. Thomas Source

 

Kansas workers’ comp law offers bleak future for nurse

A registered nurse in Wichita who interacted last August with what was thought to be a hospital patient with routine respiratory issues, but who had apparently slipped through the hospital’s coronavirus screening protocol, tested positive for the virus and his medical condition nosedived. The nurse now relies on portable oxygen and endures medication for back pain as a result of not being moved for long periods in the hospital, and is now trying to convince an administrative judge his case should be eligible for workers’ compensation. His attorney says highlights the reality the state has the lowest payout for workplace disability in the United States. Wichita Eagle

 

Connecticut launches $34M relief program for essential employees

Connecticut’s new state comptroller and the General Assembly’s Labor Committee have launched a $34 million relief program, which covers lost wages, out-of-pocket medical expenses and burial costs incurred between March 10, 2020 and July 20, 2021, for essential employees. The program is open to hospital employees, first-responders, grocery store workers, bus drivers, corrections employees and others who could not work remotely and maintained vital services during the pandemic. Connecticut Mirror

 

Workers’ compensation protection expires in Florida

An executive order put in place to protect those who protect Floridians during the pandemic has expired. Now tens of thousands of first responders, healthcare and other employees are unprotected if they claim work-related coronavirus infection. CBS12