Exploring COVID-19 workers’ comp liability of Florida employers

Florida’s chief financial officer issued Directive 2020-05 granting a rebuttable presumption that the virus was contracted within the scope of employment to limited, selective groups of “frontline state employees.” (Credit: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock)

Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation issued a memorandum on April 6 to provide guidance on workers’ compensation issues related to COVID-19. The memo states, “First responders, health care workers and others that contract COVID-19 due to work-related exposure would be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits under Florida law See Section 440.151, Fla Statute,” the statute otherwise known as Florida’s occupational disease theory.