“First Responders and Front-Line Workers” are broadly defined by the rule.
Update: On April 27, 2020, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission withdrew its emergency rule in response to a temporary restraining order from the Sangamon County Circuit Court.
In an effort to protect essential workers during the COVID-19 health crisis, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission has issued an emergency rule. Effective April 16, 2020, all first responders and front-line workers asserting a workers’ compensation claim before the commission based on exposure to COVID-19 will be rebuttably presumed to have been exposed to the virus through their work and for their claim to have been caused by that exposure.
“First Responders and Front-Line Workers” are broadly defined by the rule to include all traditional first responders, healthcare workers, corrections officers and employees of public health operations. By reference to Governor JB Pritzker’s Executive Order 2020-10, the rule also includes in this definition the employees of a long list of businesses permitted to continue on-premises operations during the pandemic, such as employees of cannabis dispensaries and growers, human services operations, food production facilities, construction contractors, essential government functions, media operations, professional services, restaurants for off-premises consumption and critical labor union functions.
Responding to concerns from employers, the commission says it will seek approval of a rule to exclude COVID-19-related claims from the determination of the impacted employers’ experience modification―a factor used to determine the cost of insurance. At least two industry groups, the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, filed legal action in Sangamon County, Illinois, seeking a temporary restraining order and ultimately seeking to overturn the rule implementing the rebuttable presumption on the basis that the commission exceeded its rule-making authority.
About Duane Morris
Duane Morris has created a COVID-19 Strategy Team to help organizations plan, respond to and address this fast-moving situation. Contact your Duane Morris attorney for more information. Prior Alerts on the topic are available on the team’s webpage.
For More Information
If you have any questions about this Alert, please contact Benjamin A. Johnston, Daniel O. Canales, any of the attorneys in our Chicago office, any member of the COVID-19 Strategy Team or the attorney at the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.
Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.