Il. Legislators OK bill to give 'essential' workers stricken with CV19 better access to worker's
In a bipartisan effort aimed at helping workers who become infected with COVID-19, the Illinois House on Friday overwhelmingly approved a measure that would increase access to worker’s compensation benefits.
The House voted 113-2 in favor of the legislation, which reflects a deal agreed to by organized labor and business groups. The bill workers considered “essential” under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statewide stay-at-home order who contract the new coronavirus to qualify for worker’s compensation benefits with the assumption that the virus was contracted on the job.
Employers could contest the claims by showing evidence an employee contracted the virus somewhere other than the workplace or that the employer was following state and federal public health guidelines.
“If you’re doing the right thing, that presumption would be rebutted,” Democratic Rep. Jay Hoffman said Friday of the presumption the virus was contracted on the job.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-coronavirus-illinois-workers-compensation-20200522-de7ahwc6hrfhjfj4awf6wrxmda-story.html