2020 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 31 - Labor
Chapter 568 - Workers' Compensation Act
Section 31-294k - Benefits for police officer, parole officer or firefighter suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. Eligibility.

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Firefighter” has the same meaning as provided in section 7-313g;

(2) “In the line of duty” means any action that a police officer, parole officer or firefighter is obligated or authorized by law, rule, regulation or written condition of employment service to perform, or for which the officer or firefighter is compensated by the public entity such officer or firefighter serves, except that, in the case of a volunteer firefighter, such action or service constitutes fire duties, as defined in subsection (b) of section 7-314b;

(3) “Mental health professional” means a board-certified psychiatrist or a psychologist licensed pursuant to chapter 383, who has experience diagnosing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder;

(4) “Parole officer” means an employee of the Department of Correction who supervises inmates in the community after their release from prison on parole or under another prison release program;

(5) “Police officer” has the same meaning as provided in section 7-294a, except that “police officer” does not include an officer of a law enforcement unit of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe or the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut;

(6) “Post-traumatic stress disorder” means a disorder that meets the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder as specified in the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”; and

(7) “Qualifying event” means an event occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2019, in which a police officer, parole officer or firefighter:

(A) Views a deceased minor;

(B) Witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death of a person;

(C) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause;

(D) Has physical contact with and treats an injured person who subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause;

(E) Carries an injured person who subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause; or

(F) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent disfigurement of the victim.

(b) A diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder is compensable as a personal injury as described in subparagraph (B)(ii)(III) of subdivision (16) of section 31-275 if a mental health professional examines a police officer, parole officer or firefighter and diagnoses the officer or firefighter with post-traumatic stress disorder as a direct result of a qualifying event, provided (1) the post-traumatic stress disorder resulted from the officer or firefighter acting in the line of duty and, in the case of a firefighter, such firefighter complied with Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act standards adopted pursuant to 29 CFR 1910.134 and 29 CFR 1910.156, (2) a qualifying event was a substantial factor in causing the disorder, (3) such qualifying event, and not another event or source of stress, was the primary cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder, and (4) the post-traumatic stress disorder did not result from any disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination, retirement or similar action of the officer or firefighter. Any such mental health professional shall comply with any workers' compensation guidelines for approved medical providers, including, but not limited to, guidelines on release of past or contemporaneous medical records.

(c) Whenever liability to pay compensation is contested by the employer, the employer shall file with the commissioner, on or before the twenty-eighth day after the employer has received a written notice of claim, a notice in accordance with a form prescribed by the chairperson of the Workers' Compensation Commission stating that the right to compensation is contested, the name of the claimant, the name of the employer, the date of the alleged injury and the specific grounds on which the right to compensation is contested. The employer shall send a copy of the notice to the employee in accordance with section 31-321. If the employer or the employer's legal representative fails to file the notice contesting liability on or before the twenty-eighth day after receiving the written notice of claim, the employer shall commence payment of compensation for such injury on or before the twenty-eighth day after receiving the written notice of claim, but the employer may contest the employee's right to receive compensation on any grounds or the extent of the employee's disability within one hundred eighty days from the receipt of the written notice of claim and any benefits paid during the one hundred eighty days shall be considered payments without prejudice, provided the employer shall not be required to commence payment of compensation when the written notice of claim has not been properly served in accordance with section 31-321 or when the written notice of claim fails to include a warning that the employer (1) if the employer has commenced payment for the alleged injury on or before the twenty-eighth day after receiving a written notice of claim, shall be precluded from contesting liability unless a notice contesting liability is filed within one hundred eighty days from the receipt of the written notice of claim, and (2) shall be conclusively presumed to have accepted the compensability of the alleged injury unless the employer either files a notice contesting liability on or before the twenty-eighth day after receiving a written notice of claim or commences payment for the alleged injury on or before such twenty-eighth day. An employer shall be entitled, if the employer prevails, to reimbursement from the claimant of any compensation paid by the employer on and after the date the commissioner receives written notice from the employer or the employer's legal representative, in accordance with the form prescribed by the chairperson of the Workers' Compensation Commission, stating that the right to compensation is contested. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, an employer who fails to contest liability for an alleged injury on or before the twenty-eighth day after receiving a written notice of claim and who fails to commence payment for the alleged injury on or before such twenty-eighth day, shall be conclusively presumed to have accepted the compensability of the alleged injury. If an employer has opted to post an address of where notice of a claim for compensation by an employee shall be sent, as described in subsection (a) of section 31-294c, the ­twenty-eight-day period set forth in this subsection shall begin on the date when such employer receives written notice of a claim for compensation at such posted address.

(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, workers' compensation benefits for any police officer, parole officer or firefighter for a personal injury described in subparagraph (B)(ii)(III) of subdivision (16) of section 31-275 shall (1) include any combination of medical treatment prescribed by a board-certified psychiatrist or a licensed psychologist, temporary total incapacity benefits under section 31-307 and temporary partial incapacity benefits under subsection (a) of section 31-308, and (2) be provided for a maximum of fifty-two weeks from the date of diagnosis. No medical treatment, temporary total incapacity benefits under section 31-307 or temporary partial incapacity benefits under subsection (a) of section 31-308 shall be awarded beyond four years from the date of the qualifying event that formed the basis for the personal injury. The weekly benefits received by an officer or a firefighter pursuant to section 31-307 or subsection (a) of section 31-308, when combined with other benefits including, but not limited to, contributory and noncontributory retirement benefits, Social Security benefits, benefits under a long-term or short-term disability plan, but not including payments for medical care, shall not exceed the average weekly wage paid to such officer or firefighter. An officer or firefighter receiving benefits pursuant to this subsection shall not be entitled to benefits pursuant to subsection (b) of section 31-308 or section 31-308a.

(P.A. 19-17, S. 2.)

History: P.A. 19-17 effective July 1, 2019.