What happens if an employee is exposed to Covid-19 on the job? Is this a workers’ compensation issue?”
The Covid-19 global pandemic changed how Americans work, seemingly overnight. As many offices transitioned their teams to remote work, others in industries deemed essential scrambled to procure PPE and prepare their workplaces for new socially distant norms. Now that non-essential workers are beginning to return to their workplaces, a common question for employers becomes, “What happens if an employee is exposed to Covid-19 on the job? Is this a workers’ compensation issue?”
That depends, says Paul Hughes, president of Orlando-based Libertate Insurance Services, which provides workers’ compensation coverage to professional employer organizations, including XMI.
Normally, a communicable disease that could be contracted during the ordinary course of life (like the cold or flu) is excluded from workers’ compensation coverage. But several states have already amended their workers’ compensation laws to include Covid-19 “presumption” clauses.
To date, 26 states have added presumptions to their workers’ compensation laws (Tennessee is not one of them).
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All writers specialize in Professional Employer Organization (PEO) business services such as Workers Compensation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Data Management, Employment Practices Liability (EPLI), Cyber Liability Insurance, Health Insurance, Occupational Accident Insurance, Business Insurance, Client Company, Casualty Insurance, Disability Insurance and more.
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