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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 321
February Session, 2022
AN ACT EXPANDING WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE FOR
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS INJURIES FOR ALL EMPLOYEES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 31-294k of the 2022 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective January 1, 2023): 3
(a) As used in this section: 4
(1) "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease designated by the 5
World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, 6
and any related mutation thereof recognized by the World Health 7
Organization as a communicable respiratory disease; 8
(2) "Eligible individual" means a police officer, firefighter, emergency 9
medical services personnel, Department of Correction employee, 10
telecommunicator or health care provider and on or after January 1, 11
2023, an employee, as defined in section 31-275; 12
(3) "Emergency medical services personnel" has the same meaning as 13
provided in section 20-206jj; 14
(4) "Firefighter" has the same meaning as provided in section 7-313g; 15 Substitute Bill No. 321
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(5) "Health care provider" means (A) a person employed at a doctor's 16
office, hospital, health care center, clinic, medical school, local health 17
department or agency, nursing facility, retirement facility, nursing 18
home, group home, home health care provider, any facility that 19
performs laboratory or medical testing, pharmacy or any similar 20
institution, or (B) a person employed to provide personal care 21
assistance, as defined in section 17b-706, in or about a private dwelling, 22
provided such person is regularly employed by the owner or occupier 23
of the dwelling for more than twenty-six hours per week; 24
(6) "In the line of duty" means any action that an eligible individual 25
is obligated or authorized by law, rule, regulation or written condition 26
of employment service to perform, or for which the eligible individual 27
is compensated by the public entity such individual serves, except that, 28
in the case of a volunteer firefighter, such action or service constitutes 29
fire duties, as defined in subsection (b) of section 7-314b; 30
(7) "Mental health professional" means a board-certified psychiatrist 31
or a psychologist licensed pursuant to chapter 383, who has experience 32
diagnosing and treating post-traumatic stress injury; 33
(8) "Parole officer" means an employee of the Department of 34
Correction who supervises inmates in the community after their release 35
from prison on parole or under another prison release program; 36
(9) "Police officer" has the same meaning as provided in section 7-37
294a, except that "police officer" does not include an officer of a law 38
enforcement unit of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe or the Mohegan 39
Tribe of Indians of Connecticut; 40
(10) "Post-traumatic stress injury" means an injury that meets the 41
diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder as specified in the 42
most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's 43
"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"; 44
(11) "Qualifying event" means: 45 Substitute Bill No. 321
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(A) An event occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2019, in 46
which a police officer, parole officer, firefighter, emergency medical 47
services personnel, Department of Correction employee or 48
telecommunicator: 49
(i) Views a deceased minor; 50
(ii) Witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death 51
of a person; 52
(iii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies before or 53
upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result 54
of any other intervening cause; 55
(iv) Has physical contact with and treats an injured person who 56
subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of 57
the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause; 58
(v) Carries an injured person who subsequently dies before or upon 59
admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result of any 60
other intervening cause; or 61
(vi) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a 62
vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent 63
disfigurement of the victim; [, or] 64
(B) An event arising out of and in the course of employment on or 65
after March 10, 2020, in which an eligible individual who is a health care 66
provider is engaged in activities substantially dedicated to mitigating or 67
responding to the public health and civil preparedness emergencies 68
declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, or any extension of such 69
emergency declarations; [,] and: 70
(i) Witnesses the death of a person due to COVID-19 or due to 71
symptoms that were later diagnosed as COVID-19; 72
(ii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies as a result 73 Substitute Bill No. 321
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of COVID-19 or due to symptoms that were later diagnosed as COVID-74
19; 75
(iii) Has physical contact with and treats or provides care for a person 76
who subsequently dies as a result of COVID-19 or due to symptoms that 77
were later diagnosed as COVID-19; or 78
(iv) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a 79
vital body function of a person due to COVID-19 or due to symptoms 80
that were later diagnosed as COVID-19; or 81
(C) An event arising out of and in the course of employment on or 82
after January 1, 2023, in which an eligible individual: 83
(i) Views a deceased minor; 84
(ii) Witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death 85
of a person; 86
(iii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies before or 87
upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result 88
of any other intervening cause; 89
(iv) Has physical contact with and treats an injured person who 90
subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of 91
the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause; 92
(v) Carries an injured person who subsequently dies before or upon 93
admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result of any 94
other intervening cause; or 95
(vi) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a 96
vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent 97
disfigurement of the victim; 98
(12) "Telecommunicator" has the same meaning as provided in 99
section 28-30; and 100 Substitute Bill No. 321
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(13) "Witnesses" means, for an eligible individual who is a 101
telecommunicator, hears by telephone or radio while directly 102
responding to an emergency call that constitutes a qualifying event 103
under this section and providing a dispatch assignment. 104
(b) A diagnosis of post-traumatic stress injury is compensable as a 105
personal injury as described in subparagraph (B)(ii)(III) of subdivision 106
(16) of section 31-275 if a mental health professional examines the 107
eligible individual and diagnoses the individual with a post-traumatic 108
stress injury as a direct result of a qualifying event, provided (1) the 109
post-traumatic stress injury resulted from (A) the eligible individual 110
acting in the line of duty if such individual is a police officer, firefighter, 111
emergency medical services personnel, Department of Correction 112
employee or telecommunicator and, in the case of a firefighter, such 113
firefighter complied with Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act 114
standards adopted pursuant to 29 CFR 1910.134 and 29 CFR 1910.156, 115
or (B) the eligible individual acting in the course of employment if such 116
individual is a health care provider or other employee, on or after 117
January 1, 2023, (2) a qualifying event was a substantial factor in causing 118
the injury, and (3) the post-traumatic stress injury did not result from 119
any disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, 120
promotion, termination, retirement or similar action of the eligible 121
individual. Any such mental health professional shall comply with any 122
workers' compensation guidelines for approved medical providers, 123
including, but not limited to, guidelines on release of past or 124
contemporaneous medical records. 125
(c) Whenever liability to pay compensation is contested by the 126
employer, the employer shall file with the commissioner, on or before 127
the twenty-eighth day after the employer has received a written notice 128
of claim, a notice in accordance with a form prescribed by the 129
chairperson of the Workers' Compensation Commission stating that the 130
right to compensation is contested, the name of the claimant, the name 131
of the employer, the date of the alleged injury and the specific grounds 132
on which the right to compensation is contested. The employer shall 133 Substitute Bill No. 321
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send a copy of the notice to the employee in accordance with section 31-134
321. If the employer or the employer's legal representative fails to file 135
the notice contesting liability on or before the twenty-eighth day after 136
receiving the written notice of claim, the employer shall commence 137
payment of compensation for such injury on or before the twenty-eighth 138
day after receiving the written notice of claim, but the employer may 139
contest the employee's right to receive compensation on any grounds or 140
the extent of the employee's disability within one hundred eighty days 141
from the receipt of the written notice of claim and any benefits paid 142
during the one hundred eighty days shall be considered payments 143
without prejudice, provided the employer shall not be required to 144
commence payment of compensation when the written notice of claim 145
has not been properly served in accordance with section 31-321 or when 146
the written notice of claim fails to include a warning that the employer 147
(1) if the employer has commenced payment for the alleged injury on or 148
before the twenty-eighth day after receiving a written notice of claim, 149
shall be precluded from contesting liability unless a notice contesting 150
liability is filed within one hundred eighty days from the receipt of the 151
written notice of claim, and (2) shall be conclusively presumed to have 152
accepted the compensability of the alleged injury unless the employer 153
either files a notice contesting liability on or before the twenty-eighth 154
day after receiving a written notice of claim or commences payment for 155
the alleged injury on or before such twenty-eighth day. An employer 156
shall be entitled, if the employer prevails, to reimbursement from the 157
claimant of any compensation paid by the employer on and after the 158
date the commissioner receives written notice from the employer or the 159
employer's legal representative, in accordance with the form prescribed 160
by the chairperson of the Workers' Compensation Commission, stating 161
that the right to compensation is contested. Notwithstanding the 162
provisions of this subsection, an employer who fails to contest liability 163
for an alleged injury on or before the twenty-eighth day after receiving 164
a written notice of claim and who fails to commence payment for the 165
alleged injury on or before such twenty-eighth day, shall be conclusively 166
presumed to have accepted the compensability of the alleged injury. If 167
an employer has opted to post an address of where notice of a claim for 168 Substitute Bill No. 321
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compensation by an employee shall be sent, as described in subsection 169
(a) of section 31-294c, the twenty-eight-day period set forth in this 170
subsection shall begin on the date when such employer receives written 171
notice of a claim for compensation at such posted address. 172
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, workers' 173
compensation benefits for any eligible individual for a personal injury 174
described in subparagraph (B)(ii)(III) of subdivision (16) of section 31-175
275 shall (1) include any combination of medical treatment prescribed 176
by a board-certified psychiatrist or a licensed psychologist, temporary 177
total incapacity benefits under section 31-307 and temporary partial 178
incapacity benefits under subsection (a) of section 31-308, and (2) be 179
provided for a maximum of fifty-two weeks from the date of diagnosis. 180
No medical treatment, temporary total incapacity benefits under section 181
31-307 or temporary partial incapacity benefits under subsection (a) of 182
section 31-308 shall be awarded beyond four years from the date of the 183
qualifying event that formed the basis for the personal injury. The 184
weekly benefits received by an eligible individual pursuant to section 185
31-307 or subsection (a) of section 31-308, when combined with other 186
benefits including, but not limited to, contributory and noncontributory 187
retirement benefits, Social Security benefits, benefits under a long-term 188
or short-term disability plan, but not including payments for medical 189
care, shall not exceed the average weekly wage paid to such eligible 190
individual. An eligible individual receiving benefits pursuant to this 191
subsection shall not be entitled to benefits pursuant to subsection (b) of 192
section 31-308 or section 31-308a. 193
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 January 1, 2023 31-294k
LAB Joint Favorable Subst.
APP Joint Favorable Substitute Bill No. 321
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