On July 24, 2020, Connecticut Governor Lamont issued Executive Order JJJ (“E.O. JJJ”), which creates a presumption that employees who contracted COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic contracted it at work and are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.

Pursuant to E.O. JJJ, there shall be a “rebuttable presumption” that an employee, who makes a claim for benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act, and who missed one or more days of work between March 10, 2020 and May 20, 2020, inclusive, due to a diagnosis of COVID-19 or symptoms that were diagnosed as COVID-19, contracted COVID-19 as an occupational disease arising in the course of his or her employment. The following four conditions must be met for the rebuttable presumption to apply:

  1. The employee must have worked, at the direction of the employer, outside the home during at least one of the fourteen days immediately preceding the date of injury, and had not received an offer or directive from the employer to work from home instead of from his or her place of employment;
  2. If the date of injury was more than fourteen days after March 23, 2020, the employee was employed by an employer deemed essential by the Department of Economic and Community Development pursuant to Executive Order 7H, available here;
  3. The contraction of COVID-19 was confirmed by a positive laboratory diagnostic test within three weeks of the date of injury, or diagnosed and documented within three weeks of the date of injury by a licensed physician, licensed physician’s assistant, or licensed advanced practice registered nurse, based on the employee’s symptoms; and
  4. A copy of the positive test is provided to the employer or insurer.

An employer may only rebut the presumption if it demonstrates to the Workers’ Compensation Commissioner, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the employment of the individual was not the cause of his or her contracting COVID-19.  Even if the employee who has contracted COVID-19 is not entitled to the presumption, he or she can still make a claim under the Workers’ Compensation Act.

Furthermore, E.O. JJJ provides that any wage replacement benefits paid under Section 31-307 or 31-308(a) of the Workers’ Compensation Act[1] shall be reduced by the amount of any sick leave available to the employee through the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, or through another paid sick leave program specifically available in response to COVID-19, and separate from any accrued paid time off regularly available to the employee.

E.O. JJJ also amends Section 31-290a of the Workers’ Compensation Act[2], to provide for a civil action in superior court if an employer deliberately misinforms or otherwise deliberately dissuades an employer from filing a claim for workers’ compensation benefits.  Employers should therefore be careful not to interfere with the filing of such claims.

This E.O. remains in effect for six months, or until January 24, 2021, unless modified or terminated earlier.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

[1] Section 31-307 provides for  workers’ compensation for total incapacity, and Section 31-308(a) provides for additional benefits for partial permanent disability.

[2] Section 31-290a provides that it is illegal to discriminate against an employee for exercising his or her right to claim or receive workers’ compensation benefits and provides that an employee can bring a claim for a violation of said right to the Workers’ Compensation Commission or in the Connecticut Superior Court.

Back to Workforce Bulletin Blog

Search This Blog

Blog Editors

Authors

Related Services

Topics

Archives

Jump to Page

Subscribe

Sign up to receive an email notification when new Workforce Bulletin posts are published:

Privacy Preference Center

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.