The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of our lives in many ways. It has also changed how the entire legal world operates. From zoom hearings to delays in filing, there have been several changes that have altered how legal proceedings work.
Workers’ Compensation has seen a shift as well. In today’s blog, I would like to highlight some of those shifts and show how they can potentially impact or alter your case.
While several other states have amended state policies regarding Workers’ Comp. and COVID-19, Florida is NOT one of those states. While the state has addressed that there are limited circumstances where an employee can receive benefits for contracting COVID-19 “on the job,” it often requires clear and convincing evidence connecting job-related tasks to the exposure to COVID-19. The standards of proof in occupational disease and exposure claims are so high that it is rare for an injured worker to prevail on COVID-19 claims.
Florida’s CFO, Jimmy Patronis issued a finding that if first responders (who are state employees) contract COVID-19 there is a rebuttable presumption that they contracted it during work and it will be compensable under WC, unless the employer can prove otherwise. This presumption does not apply to workers in the private sector.
Since the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida case law has highlighted a list of requirements that employees must show to qualify under the occupational disease statute as it relates to COVID-19.
1. The disease must be actually caused by employment conditions that are characteristic of and peculiar to a particular occupation;
2. The disease must be actually contracted during employment in the particular occupation;
3. The occupation must present a particular hazard of the disease occurring so as to distinguish that occupation from usual occupations, or the incidence of the disease must be substantially higher in the occupation than in the usual occupations; and
4. If the disease is an ordinary disease of life, the incidence of such a disease must be substantially higher in the particular occupation than in the general public
I hope this post has been informative and opened your eyes to the complications that COVID-19 has brought to the world of Workers’ Comp. Should you have any questions or want to learn more as it pertains to your case, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office.
***This blog in no way constitutes legal advice and is meant only to be informational in nature. Should you have any questions regarding Workers’ Comp., please do not hesitate to contact our office to schedule your free consultation.
Sources: https://www.flmedical.org/florida/Florida_Public/Docs/Coronavirus/Workers-Comp-and-COVID.pdf
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