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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7141
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING COMPENSATION PAID TO INJURED
EMPLOYEES AND THE PARENTS OF A DECEASED EMPLOYEE
UNDER THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 31-308 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 2
passage): 3
(b) With respect to the following injuries, the compensation, in 4
addition to the usual compensation for total incapacity but in lieu of all 5
other payments for compensation, shall be seventy-five per cent of the 6
average weekly earnings of the injured employee, calculated pursuant 7
to section 31-310, after such earnings have been reduced by any 8
deduction for federal or state taxes, or both, and for the federal 9
Insurance Contributions Act made from such employee's total wages 10
received during the period of calculation of the employee's average 11
weekly wage pursuant to said section 31-310, but in no case more than 12
one hundred per cent, raised to the next even dollar, of the average 13
weekly earnings of production and related workers in manufacturing in 14
the state, as determined in accordance with the provisions of section 31-15
309, or less than fifty dollars weekly. All of the following injuries include 16
the loss of the member or organ and the complete and permanent loss 17
of use of the member or organ referred to: 18 Substitute Bill No. 7141
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T1 MEMBER INJURY WEEKS OF
T2 COMPENSATION
T3 Arm
T4 Master arm Loss at or above elbow 208
T5 Other arm Loss at or above elbow 194
T6 Hand
T7 Master hand Loss at or above wrist 168
T8 Other hand Loss at or above wrist 155
T9 One leg Loss at or above knee 155
T10 One foot Loss at or above ankle 125
T11 Hearing
T12 Both ears 104
T13 One ear 35
T14 One eye
T15 Complete and permanent
T16 loss of sight in, or
T17 reduction of sight to
T18 one-tenth or less
T19 of normal vision 157
T20 Thumb*
T21 On master hand 63
T22 On other hand 54
T23 Fingers**
T24 First finger 36
T25 Second finger 29
T26 Third finger 21
T27 Fourth finger 17
T28 Toes*** Substitute Bill No. 7141
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T29 Great toe 28
T30 Other toes 9
T31 Back Number of weeks
T32 which the
T33 proportion of
T34 incapacity
T35 represents to a
T36 maximum of 374
T37 weeks
T38 Heart 520
T39 Brain 520
T40 Carotid artery 520
T41 Pancreas 416
T42 Liver 347
T43 Stomach 260
T44 Loss of bladder 233
T45 Speech 163
T46 Lung 117
T47 Cervical spine 117 (until June 30,
T48 2025)
T49 Kidney 117
T50 Rib cage Bilateral 69
T51 Ovary 35
T52 Testis 35
T53 Mammary 35
T54 Nose Sense and respiratory function 35
T55 Jaw Mastication 35
T56 Uterus 35-104
T57 Vagina 35-104 Substitute Bill No. 7141
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T58 Penis 35-104
T59 Coccyx Actual removal 35
T60 Sense of smell 17
T61 Sense of taste 17
T62 Spleen In addition to scar 13
T63 Gall bladder 13
T64 Tooth Minimum 1
T65 Loss of drainage duct of eye
T66 (If corrected by prosthesis) 17 for each
T67 Loss of drainage duct of eye
T68 (If uncorrected by prosthesis) 33 for each
T69 Pelvis percentage of back
T70 On and after July 1, 2025:
T71 Intestinal tract 347
T72 Esophagus 180
T73 Trachea 117
T74 Larynx 117
T75 Diaphragm 117
T76 Cervical Spine 208
*The loss or loss of use of one phalanx of a thumb shall be construed 19
as seventy-five per cent of the loss of the thumb. 20
**The loss or loss of use of one phalanx of a finger shall be construed 21
as fifty per cent of the loss of the finger. The loss of or loss of use of two 22
phalanges of a finger shall be construed as ninety per cent of the loss of 23
the finger. 24
***The loss or loss of use of one phalanx of a great toe shall be 25
construed as sixty-six and two-thirds per cent of the loss of the great toe. 26
The loss of the greater part of any phalanx shall be construed as the loss 27
of a phalanx and shall be compensated accordingly. 28 Substitute Bill No. 7141
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[If] For any matter filed with the Workers' Compensation 29
Commission on or after July 1, 1993, that remains open and pending 30
before said commission on the effective date of this section, and for any 31
matter filed with said commission on and after the effective date of this 32
section, (1) if the injury consists of the loss of a substantial part of a 33
member resulting in a permanent partial loss of the use of a member, or 34
if the injury results in a permanent partial loss of function, the 35
administrative law judge [may, in the administrative law judge's 36
discretion] shall, in lieu of other compensation, award to the injured 37
employee the proportion of the sum provided in this subsection for the 38
total loss of, or the loss of the use of, the member or for incapacity or 39
both that represents the proportion of total loss or loss of use found to 40
exist, and any voluntary agreement submitted in which the basis of 41
settlement is such proportionate payment may, if otherwise 42
conformable to the provisions of this chapter, be approved by the 43
administrative law judge; [in the administrative law judge's discretion.] 44
and (2) notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, an injured 45
employee who has reached maximum medical improvement and is 46
eligible for benefits pursuant to this subsection, but whose injuries 47
continue to result in total incapacity to work pursuant to section 31-307, 48
shall continue to be eligible to receive total incapacity benefits pursuant 49
to section 31-307 until such period of total incapacity ends. 50
Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, the complete loss or 51
loss of use of an organ which results in the death of an employee shall 52
be compensable pursuant only to section 31-306. 53
Sec. 2. Subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of section 31-306 of the general 54
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 55
(Effective from passage): 56
(6) In all cases where there are no presumptive dependents, but (A) 57
where there are one or more persons wholly dependent in fact, the 58
compensation in case of death shall be divided according to the relative 59
degree of their dependence, or (B) where there are no persons wholly 60
dependent in fact, the compensation shall be divided equally among the 61
parents of the deceased employee. Compensation payable under this 62 Substitute Bill No. 7141
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subdivision shall be paid for not more than three hundred and twelve 63
weeks from the date of the death of the employee. The compensation, if 64
paid to those wholly dependent in fact, shall be paid at the full 65
compensation rate. The compensation, if paid to those partially 66
dependent in fact upon the deceased employee as of the date of the 67
injury, shall not, in total, be more than the full compensation rate nor 68
less than twenty dollars weekly, nor, if the average weekly sum 69
contributed by the deceased at the date of the injury to those partially 70
dependent in fact is more than twenty dollars weekly, not more than the 71
sum so contributed. 72
Sec. 3. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a working group 73
to study rehabilitation services available to injured employees under 74
chapter 568 of the general statutes. Such study shall include, but need 75
not be limited to, an examination of (1) whether the provisions of 76
chapter 568 of the general statutes adequately fund rehabilitation 77
services for all injured employees, and (2) methods to encourage injured 78
employees to utilize such services, including providing stipends to 79
injured employees who utilize such services. 80
(b) The working group shall consist of the following members: 81
(1) The chairpersons and the ranking members of the joint standing 82
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 83
relating to the judiciary, or their designees; 84
(2) The Commissioner of Aging and Disability Services, or the 85
commissioner's designee; 86
(3) The chairperson of the Workers' Compensation Commission, or 87
the chairperson's designee; and 88
(4) The following persons jointly appointed by the chairpersons of the 89
joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 90
matters relating to the judiciary: 91
(A) An attorney who has expertise in representing claimants 92 Substitute Bill No. 7141
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appearing before the Workers' Compensation Commission; 93
(B) An attorney who has expertise in representing respondents 94
appearing before the Workers' Compensation Commission; 95
(C) A representative of an association representing attorneys in the 96
state; 97
(D) A representative of an association representing trial attorneys in 98
the state; 99
(E) A representative of an association representing workers' 100
compensation insurers in the state; 101
(F) A representative of an association representing business and 102
industry in the state; and 103
(G) A representative of a labor organization. 104
(c) All initial appointments to the working group shall be made not 105
later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy 106
shall be filled by the appointing authority. 107
(d) The chairpersons of the joint standing committee of the General 108
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary, or their 109
designees, shall serve as the chairpersons of the working group. Such 110
chairpersons shall schedule the first meeting of the working group, 111
which shall be held not later than sixty days after the effective date of 112
this section. The working group shall meet not less than once per month 113
and at such other times as may be necessary upon the call of the 114
chairpersons. 115
(e) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 116
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary 117
shall serve as administrative staff of the working group. 118
(f) Not later than February 1, 2026, the working group shall submit a 119
report on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing 120 Substitute Bill No. 7141
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committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 121
relating to the judiciary, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-122
4a of the general statutes. The working group shall terminate on the date 123
that it submits such report or February 1, 2026, whichever is later. 124
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 31-308(b)
Sec. 2 from passage 31-306(a)(6)
Sec. 3 from passage New section
JUD Joint Favorable Subst.