COVID-19 Legal Update: Michigan

Workers' Compensation Administrative board/ commission

How does the state define an occupational disease?

§ 418.401(2)(b) "Personal injury" includes a disease or disability that is due to causes and conditions that are characteristic of and peculiar to the business of the employer and that arises out of and in the course of the employment. An ordinary disease of life to which the public is generally exposed outside of the employment is not compensable. A personal injury under this act is compensable if work causes, contributes to, or aggravates pathology in a manner so as to create a pathology that is medically distinguishable from any pathology that existed prior to the injury. Mental disabilities and conditions of the aging process, including but not limited to heart and cardiovascular conditions, and degenerative arthritis shall be compensable if contributed to or aggravated or accelerated by the employment in a significant manner. Mental disabilities shall be compensable when arising out of actual events of employment, not unfounded perceptions thereof, and if the employee's perception of the actual events is reasonably grounded in fact or reality. A hernia to be compensable must be clearly recent in origin and result from a strain arising out of and in the course of the employment and be promptly reported to the employer.

COVid-19 Specific Laws, agency declarations/ press releases, or enacted regulation?

See any Workers' Disability Compensation Agency updates here.

Emergency Rule on COVID-19 Presumption for First Response Employees
March 30, 2020

Executive Order Authorizing Enhanced Remote Means for Carrying Out State Administrative Procedures
April 16, 2020

DIFS Order Requiring Workers' Compensation Filings
June 17, 2020

Executive Order Clarifying WDCA Eligibility for Workplace Exposure to COVID-19
June 17, 2020

Executive Order Clarifying WDCA Eligibility for Workplace Exposure to COVID-19 and Rescinding June 17 Order
June 18, 2020

All Executive Orders

Michigan Supreme Court Overturns Gov. Whitmer's COVID Executive Orders Issued After April 30, 2020
October 2, 2020

Emergency Rules on Rebuttable COVID-19 Presumption for Health Care Workers and First Responders
October 16, 2020

Court Closures & Modified Call

In-Person Closure Information

Is the administrative court system closed or open?

Open - suspended in-person hearings continues.

Does this state have a shelter-in-place in order?

No - order was 3/24/20 to 5/28/20; phased re-opening began 5/7/20.

ANY STATE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE ON DISABILITY, UNEMPLOYMENT, OR HEALTH BENEFITS FOR COVID-19?

Unemployment

Last Updated: 2/1/2021

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This document compiles certain state laws and websites relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic. State guidance and other government instruction have changed frequently. We thus may update this document over time.

Please do not hesitate to contact your account manager, resolution manager, or your other preferred contact at Gallagher Bassett with any questions.

Although we have gathered information relevant to COVID-19 and its impact on workers' compensation claims and your businesses, this is not legal advice, it does not include all pertinent information, nor should it be the basis for legal, claim, benefit, safety, or human resource-related decisions. If you would like guidance on legal issues arising from COVID-19, including whether a COVID-19 related claim is compensable under a specific state’s laws, please seek advice from legal counsel with expertise in the relevant subject areas and state laws. For Gallagher Bassett clients, if you have reported a workers’ compensation claim, then your resolution manager can assist.

A Further Note on the Statutes, Definitions, Cases, and Websites Cited in this Document. State law controls if a worker is entitled or not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Each state can approach this question differently, and the relevant statutes, standards of proof, regulating agencies, court precedent, and other aspects of a workers’ compensation claim vary between jurisdictions. As a general principle, state workers’ compensation laws provide medical and wage loss benefits to workers who suffer bodily injury due to an accident, or bodily injury due to an occupational disease. The relevant bodily injury must arise out of and occur in the course of employment. This document primarily compiles state definitions of “occupational disease.” With respect to diseases for which the employee may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, the disease typically must arise from particular conditions of employment that make contracting the disease more likely than in the general population, or otherwise there must be a sufficient connection between a disease and workplace. Please consult the relevant state’s workers’ compensation act for the specific language applicable to an “occupational disease” claim.