Workers' Compensation Act Breaking News - COVID-19
On March 18, 2020, Gov. Gretchen Witmer signed emergency rules declaring that certain employees suffer a compensable personal injury under the Workers’ Disability Compensation Act due to COVID-19. The rules apply to first responders, who will be entitled to workers’ disability compensation benefits if they are quarantined due to a confirmed or suspected COVID-19 exposure, receive a COVID-19 diagnosis from a physician, a presumptive positive COVID-19 test, or a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis.
First responders are defined as persons working in a health facility or agency as defined in the public health code; persons working in a health care organization, industrial medical clinic or as a practitioner under the Michigan Administrative Code; persons described in Section 161(1)(c) through (j) of the Workers’ Disability Compensation Act (essentially, police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, safety patrol officers, volunteer civil defense workers, and volunteers under the public health code); members of the state police; and officers of the motor carrier enforcement division of the department of state police.
These rules took effect on March 18, 2020, and shall remain in effect for six months.
The emergency rules are available here:
We will continue to monitor and update our clients as the state and federal governments and their agencies promulgate rules and regulations related to the COVID-19 virus.
Please feel free to contact Keller Thoma attorneys to discuss these rules as they apply to your employees.
