COVID-19 Legal Update: West Virginia

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Workers' Compensation Administrative board/ commission

Office of the Insurance Commissioner

 

How does the state define an occupational disease?

Chapter 23 § 23-4-1. (f) For the purposes of this chapter, occupational disease means a disease incurred in the course of and resulting from employment.  No ordinary disease of life to which the general public is exposed outside of the employment is compensable except when it follows as an incident of occupational disease as defined in this chapter.  Except in the case of occupational pneumoconiosis, a disease shall be considered to have been incurred in the course of or to have resulted from the employment only if it is apparent to the rational mind, upon consideration of all the circumstances:  (1) That there is a direct causal connection between the conditions under which work is performed and the occupational disease;  (2) that it can be seen to have followed as a natural incident of the work as a result of the exposure occasioned by the nature of the employment;  (3) that it can be fairly traced to the employment as the proximate cause;  (4) that it does not come from a hazard to which workmen would have been equally exposed outside of the employment;  (5) that it is incidental to the character of the business and not independent of the relation of employer and employee;  and (6) that it appears to have had its origin in a risk connected with the employment and to have flowed from that source as a natural consequence, though it need not have been foreseen or expected before its contraction:  Provided, that compensation shall not be payable for an occupational disease or death resulting from the disease unless the employee has been exposed to the hazards of the disease in the State of West Virginia over a continuous period that is determined to be sufficient, by rule of the board of managers, for the disease to have occurred in the course of and resulting from the employee's employment.  An application for benefits on account of an occupational disease shall set forth the name of the employer or employers and the time worked for each.  The commission may allocate to and divide any charges resulting from such claim among the employers by whom the claimant was employed.  The allocation shall be based upon the time and degree of exposure with each employer.

 

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

A Message from the Commissioner

Executive Order Includes Telemedicine Provisions 
     March 19, 2020

IC Emergency Order on Workers' Compensation Changes During COVID-19 State of Emergency 
     March 23, 2020

Insurance Bulletin: Workers' Compensation Procedures for COVID-19 C
     January 19, 2021

 

Court Closures & Modified Call

A Message from the Commissioner

 

Is the administrative court system closed or open?

Open - closed to public.

 

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

No - order was began 3/24/20 until 5/3/20; phased re-opening begins 5/4/20.

 

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

Executive Order on Unemployment Benefits.

 

Last Updated: 2/1/2021