Workers' Compensation

Pennsylvania Workers Can Face Issues with Paid Sick Time During the Flu Season

Published on: September 28, 2009 | O'Connor Law

As the nation braces for the coming H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic, the federal government has issued warnings to the general public, including the following tips from flu.gov:

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
Wash your hands often with soap and water.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Germs spread this way.

In addition, healthcare facilities and businesses are also bracing for the impact of swine flu on their workforces. The biggest issue involves the type of sick leave that companies offer employees.

In an article on CNNMoney.com, the National Partnership for Women and Families, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, reported that 48% of the U.S. private-sector workforce can’t take paid leave without advance notice. However, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommending that people infected with the flu stay home for at least 24 hours after fever symptoms have disappeared, employees with limited or no sick leave are caught in the middle. If they go to work sick, they risk infecting others and spreading the flu; if they stay home to recover, they risk losing their jobs.

Even healthcare facilities are caught in the conflict. In an article on medicalnewstoday.com, the National Nurses Organizing Committee–Arizona reported that many registered nurses in surveyed facilities are not guaranteed sick time in case of swine flu infection. Also, many nurses are threatened with discipline if they fail to come to work.

According to CNNMoney.com, unions and worker advocates have stepped up efforts for local laws that require businesses to offer paid sick leave. There are now 15 states and cities that have paid sick leave bills in the works.

“This is definitely pressing because of all the projections of how the swine flu and the regular flu season will be affecting people,” said Shula Warren, chief of staff for New York City council member Gale Brewer. Brewer is responsible for introducing local legislation for a sick-leave law that would also allow New York workers to use sick time to care not only for ill children, but also for kids whose schools are closed because of swine flu fears.

If Congress takes up the Healthy Families Act, initially spearheaded by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and now taken up by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., it would provide up to seven paid sick days a year at all companies with 15 or more employees.

For now, the CDC recommends that employers encourage employees with flu-like symptoms or illness to stay home, operate with reduced staffing, and have employees who are at high risk of serious medical complications from infection work from home.

PA House Passes Bill to Make Fire Fighters with Cancer Eligible for Workers’ Compensation

Published on: September 4, 2009 | O'Connor Law

Pennsylvania fire fighters are one step closer to winning the fight against an occupational hazard: cancer. On Aug. 19 the Cancer Presumption Bill, aimed at protecting firefighters with cancer, was approved in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Fire fighters are frequently exposed to hazards such as carbon monoxide, diesel exhaust, asbestos, and other toxins that can lead to various forms of cancer. In an article from the WHYY.com website, Art Martynuska, president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association, said, “By the nature of our business we have more of a chance of coming down with one of these cancers that can be directly related to what we do on a daily basis. It’s an occupational hazard that we have to deal with.” However, in Pennsylvania it is not automatically assumed that a fire fighters’ cancer is job-related. In order to receive workers’ compensation benefits, fire fighters who are diagnosed with cancer must prove that the disease came about as a result of the hazards of their job.

The Cancer Presumption Bill would aid Pennsylvania fire fighters by reversing this process – it would be assumed that the fire fighter developed cancer as a result of their job unless their employer or the municipality could prove that it was circumstances outside of the job that contributed to the disease. Martynuska said, “If you are involved in the fire service and you come down with one of several types of cancer, the presumption is that you got that as a result of exposure to things on the job.” The bill will assist fire fighters by assuming their cancer is job-related, and making them eligible for worker’s compensation.

The bill is now before the PA state senate. If passed, Pennsylvania will join 31 other states with laws that assume a fire fighter’s cancer is a result of the hazards of the job and therefore covered by workers’ compensation

The Importance of Notifying Your Pennsylvania Employer of a Workers Injury

Published on: August 25, 2009 | O'Connor Law

If you are injured on the job, it is important to notify your employer of your injuries as soon as possible. This fact is made even more imperative by a recent ruling by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. In “Gentex Corp. and Gallagher Bassett Services v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board,” the benefits previously given to a worker were revoked because it was decided that she did not give her employer an adequate description of her injuries.

Although in Pennsylvania it is not mandatory for an employee to give a precise diagnosis, he or she must provide a reasonable description of a work-related injury. In this case, the employer claimed they were not properly notified because the employee only left a message on her supervisor’s voice-mail stating she had “work-related problems.” The court agreed that this description was not sufficient to satisfy the notice requirement. As a result, the court reversed the award of benefits, citing that the worker did not provide an adequate description of the work-related injury or the affected body part.