COVID-19: Filed workers comp claim?

[katfish67lpn]

I am wondering how many of us, working nurses, who have been infected with COVID at work have filed workers compensation claims? We need to stand up for ourselves if we have been infected at work and receive compensation.

[NurseBlaq]

Agreed, especially if it's a facility that hasn't provided adequate PPE or staffing. That alone should be an OSHA violation. Welders aren't sent to work without goggles and gloves, police aren't sent to work without weapons and handcuffs, firefighters aren't sent to work with hoses full of holes and empty O2 tanks. Healthcare professionals are battling a deadly novice virus without being given the proper equipment. Facilities should be held accountable.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

The CARES Act requires most businesses with under 500 employees to provide two weeks of paid sick leave to employees who are unable to work because of the coronavirus. Employees affected by the coronavirus will also be eligible for up to three months of paid family and medical leave.

Paid Sick Days and Paid Leave Provisions in FFCRA and Cares Act ...

Quote

On March 27, 2020, Congress passed and the president signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, H.R. 748, or the CARES Act. This fact sheet addresses the Families First Coronavirus Response Act's Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion section and Emergency Paid Sick Leave section, as amended by the CARES Act.

https://www.clasp.org/publications/fact-sheet/paid-sick-days-and-paid-leave-provisions-ffcra-and-cares-act

[Missingyou, CNA]

When I got sick early on in this fight, my employer contacted me to say they were submitting claim forms on my behalf for workers compensation.

I was told that when the employer files on your behalf it is more likely the claim will be processed. As some claim can be denied for lack of proof the virus was contacted at work when the employee does the initial filing.

[Kimmadsim]

I am currently on Workmen’s Comp. pay because I contracted Covid from a patient but also had to use my FMLA time at the same time which now is close to being expired( I got Covid then 10 days llater pneumonia then three weeks later a PE.. all due to Covid)

 

I was told once my FMLA time is expired my job is no longer safe. So I am scared to death. And I do not think it’s fair at all. I wonder if anybody else is in this position or has been? It’s not like I can rush back to work after a PE the doctor estimated a six week absence from work and I’m only at my three week mark

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I have not had COVID myself, but fellow nurses have been told that they cannot definitively prove that their infection was acquired at work and therefore worker's comp is not indicated. 

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Please READ the above link to the Paid Sick Days and Paid Leave Provisions in FFCRA and CARES Act -- applys to all Private employers with less than 500 employees.    For those with COVID related illnesses, tell HR you are requesting medical leave under this act.

Quote

In March 18, 2020, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), H.R. 6201, providing some employees up to 10 paid sick days and up to 10 weeks of paid family and medical leave, in addition to other critical measures. This was the first time Congress required federal paid leave for private sector workers—an important first step in ensuring workers earning low wages have access to these benefits during the coronavirus pandemic. Congress must, however, do more to protect all working people during and after this crisis. ...

For employers with existing paid leave policies, the Act’s paid sick time is in addition to any existing leave. An employer cannot require employees to use their existing accrued leave time before using this emergency leave.

Wage Replacement

Full wage replacement for self-care, with a maximum required benefit of $511 a day ($5110 total)....

Uses

Employees are entitled to paid sick time when unable to work (or telework) for any of the following reasons:

Employee is subject to a government-mandated quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;

Employee’s health provider orders self-isolation due to concerns related to COVID-19;

Employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis;....

 

Can I Get Workers' Compensation Benefits for Coronavirus (COVID-19)?

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If you believe that you contracted COVID-19 because of exposure to the coronavirus on the job or while traveling for work, you may be wondering if you qualify for workers’ compensation benefits (including wage-loss benefits when you’re in quarantine). The short answer is that in most states, it will probably be difficult to get these benefits unless you’re a healthcare provider or first responder who treated an infected person. The longer answer is that it will depend on the nature of your job, the circumstances in your case, and the rules in your state—including changes to those rules that may make it easier for some employees to qualify when they get COVD-19 during the pandemic.

Conversation with a Work Comp attorney is in your best interest to see if claim filing possible in your state.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

I think it depends on your state and facility. My facility is paying our full wages for any period of lost work related to Covid-19.This includes time spent waiting for Covid 19 test to come back. It was explained that they are also being reimbursed from a special fund set up by the government.

But that may just be where I am at. 

[Cricket183, BSN, RN]

My hospital’s private carrier (they are a non-subscriber) denied my WC claim.  They stated I used the wrong date (2 KNOWN exposures and HR told me to use the date of my first symptoms) and I could have been exposed elsewhere.  Hmmm...out of the 14 days prior to symptoms, I worked 10 days (one 6 hour shift and nine 12 hr shifts).  I went hardly anywhere except work and home to sleep.  It’s just me & my husband and he never tested positive or had symptoms.  I did attend one church service and one praise team practice, a doctors appointment and ran by CVS to pick up medication.  So maybe 3-4 hours total in “social situations” (ie more than me present). Wore a mask and socially distanced on all occasions.  No one else at home or church was sick during this time.  
I have hired a lawyer and am appealing their decision but I know it will be a fight.