COVID-19 and Healthcare Workers

First Responders, Doctors, Nurses and Hospital Personnel

You work at a North Carolina hospital, or a doctor’s office, another healthcare facility, like a nursing home.  Your work demands that you keep going and keep caring for patients. And then you get sick. You cannot work, and even if your coronavirus case is mild, you miss work.  It is the worst that could happen.  

Do you get workers’ compensation payments for your medical treatment, which could be expensive? Or for your time out of work?  

You will be facing a lot of questions if you get COVID-19. Your health and family are first on your mind. But the practicalities are important too. What if you are unable to work?

You may qualify for workers’ compensation in North Carolina if you get COVID-19 from work.  You could qualify for unemployment benefits too — how would you decide what are the best benefits for you?

How Could I Qualify for NC Workers’ Comp?

An occupational disease can be any condition that is both caused by your job and that you have an increased risk of getting because of your job duties.   An occupational disease can come from a single exposure. And it can happen over time. Workers’ comp is not for ordinary diseases, like the flu. And we now know that COVID-19 is no ordinary disease.  

Medical personnel and hospital workers should be able to meet the tests for occupational disease if they contract COVID-19 from work.  A worker could even get COVID-19 by an accident at work:  they could be doing something unusual at work that exposes them to the disease.  

What About Unemployment If I Am Out of Work? 

You should consult with the board-certified workers’ compensation lawyers at Johnson & Groninger PLLC.  You may be entitled to receive more benefits from workers’ compensation than from unemployment. Valerie Johnson and Jennifer Segnere have represented hundreds of workers in occupational disease claims and are prepared to answer your questions. Call 919-568-1318 with questions for us.