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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | October 1, 2021 02:19 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Gary Day |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting |
| I am preparing to introduce legislation that would amend the Workers’ Compensation (WC) Act to require to employers to record adverse events associated with any work-related vaccine. Under current law and regulations, employers are required to record workplace injuries, and they (or their insurer) must report injuries that result in at least one missed shift of work to the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Given the current controversy over employers mandating vaccines for COVID-19, one modest step on which we may be able to form a consensus is a requirement in the WC Act to record and report adverse events associated with a vaccine that is work-related (ex. the employee was required to receive the vaccine by the employer, or it was otherwise administered during the course of employment). If an employee experiences an adverse event associated with a work-related vaccine, it can already be considered a compensable injury under the WC Act, if 1) the employee can demonstrate the injury was caused by the work-related vaccine, and 2) the employee needs medical treatment and/or is eligible for wage-loss benefits under the act. My bill does not change the standard for a compensable injury. Rather, my legislation will simply build the recording and reporting of adverse events associated with work-related vaccines into the current requirements for recording and reporting workplace injuries. For adverse events that must be reported to the bureau as injuries, the Department of Labor and Industry will use the additional information required by my bill to prepare an annual report to the General Assembly regarding the frequency, nature, associated type of vaccine, and geographic/industry breakdowns of these adverse events. The information would also be included in the department’s publicly available annual report on the WC program. Knowledge is powerful. Knowing any reported adverse effects or the lack thereof, can be equally powerful in requiring vaccines or not. Regardless of the differing opinions on workplace vaccine mandates, I believe that this legislation is a modest step the General Assembly can take to begin the processes of creating a record and monitoring the prevalence of adverse effects associated with work-related vaccines. I hope that you will join me as a cosponsor. |
Introduced as HB2135