Lampton's Workers' Comp Protection Bill Passes House
COLUMBUS – The Ohio House of Representatives joined State Representative Brian Lampton (R-Beavercreek) to vote in favor of House Bill 447. This legislation will prevent frivolous workers’ compensation claims from work-from-home employees when the injury sustained by the employee is outside of the employer’s control.
“The pandemic changed our lives dramatically,” said Lampton. “With that change, legislators should act to modify laws that reflect the world we live in today. House Bill 447 codifies that injuries sustained by work-from-home employees qualify for workers’ compensation if the injury was caused by their employment and within the control of their employer.”
Currently, state law does not differentiate injuries sustained by work-from-home employees that are within the employer’s control from injuries sustained by work-from-home employees that are outside of the employer’s control.
Under House Bill 447 work-from-home employees, who sustain an injury while working, qualify for workers’ compensation if the employee meets three criteria:
· The employee’s injury or disability arises out of the employee’s employment
· The employee’s injury or disability was caused by a special hazard of the employee’s employment activity
· The employee’s injury or disability is sustained in the course of an activity undertaken by the employee for the exclusive benefit of the employer
“The purpose of this bill is not to prevent work-from-home employees from claiming workers’ compensation,” said Lampton. “Instead, the purpose of this bill is to protect the stability of Ohio’s workers’ compensation system. This bill will still allow for claims from work-from-home employees. However, it will prevent frivolous claims in Ohio that we are seeing in other states. One example is from Florida where a woman tripped over her dog when reaching for a cup of coffee and filed for workers’ compensation.”
The bill will now head to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.