COVID-19 Legal Update: Vermont

Workers' Compensation Administrative board/ commission

How does the state define an occupational disease?

Title 21. Chapter 9 § 601(23) "Occupational disease" means a disease that results from causes and conditions characteristic of and peculiar to a particular trade, occupation, process, or employment, and to which an employee is not ordinarily subjected or exposed outside or away from the employment and arises out of and in the course of the employment.

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

Memo on Temporary Changes to Handling of Work Comp Claims
March 18, 2020

Gov. Signs H.742 Providing Specific Relief for Employers
March 30, 2020

Dept. of Financial Regulation Emergency Rule on Telehealth
March 31, 2020

Gov. Applies Rule 11 to Workers' Compensation Claims
April 15, 2020

Dept. of Health Memo Applying and Clarifying IME Requirements
May 15, 2020

Enacted Legislation: COVID-19 Rebuttable Presumption for Workers' Compensation Claims for Workers in Jobs at Elevated Risk
July 13, 2020

Court Closures & Modified Call

Changes in Response to COVID-19

Is the administrative court system closed or open?

Open.

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

No - order was 3/25/20 to 5/15/20; phased re-opening began 4/20/20 .

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

Unemployment.

Last Updated: 2/1/2021

<< Gallagher Bassett COVID-19 Resource Center
<< Contact us with your COVID-19 Questions

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.