Bills › 88th General Assembly
Relating to employee intoxication under the workers’ compensation program
Topics:InsuranceJobs & workers
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedFebruary 6, 2020
- Done: SubcommitteeFebruary 11, 2020
- Stopped: Senate committeeDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: House committee
- Next: Passes the House
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The 2020 session adjourned on June 14, 2020, the General Assembly’s last regular session. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary Currently, if an employer shows a worker tested positive for alcohol or drugs after an injury, the law automatically assumes the worker was intoxicated and that the substances caused the accident. This new law removes those automatic assumptions. Instead of assuming the worker was intoxicated, the employer would have to prove it was a major factor in the injury.1
Read the official explanation
Under current law, workers’ compensation is not allowed for injury caused by an employee’s intoxication, which did not arise out of and in the course of employment but which was due to the effects of alcohol or certain substances, if the intoxication was a substantial factor in causing the injury. If the employer shows that, at the time of the injury or immediately following the injury, the employee had positive test results reflecting the presence of alcohol, or certain other substances, it is presumed under current law that the employee was intoxicated at the time of the injury and that intoxication was a substantial factor in causing the injury. The employee then has the burden to disprove either presumption. This bill strikes both presumptions.
Senate subcommittee
Named February 11, 2020. It hasn’t reported yet.
Three legislators hear a bill first and recommend what the committee should do; it’s the best time to weigh in. How to take part