School employees who contract COVID-19 could qualify for workers' comp

Schools working on reopening plans should closely monitor CDC and OSHA guidelines and have contract tracing procedures in place. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Although workers’ compensation insurance would not normally cover a virus, many states have extended it to cover COVID-19 for certain essential workers. In California, a temporary “rebuttable presumption” was created that shifted the burden of proving the virus was contracted at work away from the employee. Teachers and other education staff who contract COVID-19 would need to check whether they are eligible for workers’ compensation in their state.

“Workers’ compensation has never covered common colds or the flu because it is almost impossible to track where you may have contracted the illness,” said Justin Dorman, national product manager, workers’ compensation Burns & Wilcox. “COVID is obviously different, and it is good to see a lot of states battling for certain employees, especially in health care, because their jobs involve a higher likelihood of exposure. The issue is just how far do we expand these laws because you also do not want to put the whole burden on the workers’ compensation system.”