An Illinois judge has blocked a new workers' compensation rule which would have granted benefits to any employee that was deemed essential who contracts the COVID-19 disease, even if that employee was granted work from home privileges.
The judge, out of Sangamon County Circuit Court, blocked the rule after the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association filed a lawsuit against emergency amendments that the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission adopted.
Early in April, the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission decreed that any worker who is deemed essential during the pandemic who later contracts COVID-19 will be granted an automatic assumption that the illness was contracted while that person was working, even if the worker is working remotely.
After the decree, nine trade associations released a joint statement calling it a "drastic policy change" that would "significantly increase costs." The decree came at a time during which many of the affected businesses are waiting for federal assistance to meet payroll obligations and retain workers. The trade associations represented manufacturing, lodging, retail, and other economic sectors.
Editors Note: On the other side of the country, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara alerted insurance companies that all workers affected by COVID-19 on the job are eligible for workers' compensation benefits regardless of their immigration status. This includes workers engaged in front-line occupations such as health care, emergency services, food production, sales and delivery, among others.