Workers’ Comp and Covid: What You Need to Know
Workers’ comp is a type of insurance that helps your employer pay for your healthcare costs when you’re injured on the job. In the past couple of years, Covid has become one of the biggest job-related health risks. So can you get workers’ comp for a Covid infection if you got sick while at work?
Here’s what you need to know about worker’s comp and Covid-19.
How a New Tennessee Law Affects Workers’ Comp Claims for Covid-19
Each state determines its own workers’ comp laws. That means your state legislature decides all the rules around workers’ comp, and as a result, the laws can change when new people take office.
In Tennessee, a recent general assembly bill made it harder to win workers’ comp for occupational disease protections. These protections allow people to claim workers’ comp for injuries that happened gradually over a long period of time.
In addition, Tennessee lowered the amount of insurance businesses are required to hold, which effectively limits how much you can receive in workers’ comp claims.
The laws are designed to make Tennessee a more attractive environment for businesses, and perhaps they do; but they also affect the employees who live and work in the state and who need financial help after job injuries—including people who got Covid on the job.
How to Prove a Covid Workers’ Comp Claim
With any workers’ comp claim, you have to prove:
- The injury or illness actually occurred at your workplace or while on the job, and
- It severely limited your ability to work
Both of these factors can be harder to prove with Covid than other injuries.
The insurance companies may claim Covid hasn’t affected your daily life. For many people, that’s thankfully true. But for far too many others, severe long-term symptoms—or long Covid—make regular work impossible.
Because of the nature of community spread, it can also be especially hard to prove you were infected with Covid from performing your normal job. Your employer’s insurance company could claim you got it from home or just from daily life, like so many other people.
That’s why 75% of Covid-related workers’ comp claims in Tennessee have come from health care workers and first responders. It’s much easier to prove your illness came directly from doing your job.
Why You Need a Memphis Workers’ Comp Lawyer
You can probably tell by now that workers’ comp in Tennessee can feel like an uphill climb for a couple of reasons: First, the state legislature has made the laws more complicated and difficult for employees; and second, insurance companies will likely try to fight your claim.
As a result, if you’ve been injured on the job, you need a workers’ comp lawyer who knows how to fight the system and get you the benefits you need and deserve. That includes workers’ comp for Covid infection or any other workplace injury.
Our firm understands the ins and outs of Tennessee workers’ comp laws. For over thirty years, we’ve provided legal support to Memphians like yourself who were injured while performing their jobs.
You need a workers’ comp attorney who will look out for you and stand up to big insurance. To get started, chat with us for free to understand your options.
Just give me a call at 901-327-2100 today or fill out the form below. We look forward to talking with you.