Worker Can’t Collect Comp Benefits and Pension Concurrently, Court Says
- The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled Oct. 8 that a former D.C. Department of Corrections employee cannot collect temporary total disability benefits under the District’s workers’ compensation program for public employees while also receiving federal Civil Service Retirement System retirement benefits.
- The court vacated a Compensation Review Board decision allowing both and reinstated the Office of Risk Management’s order ending her TTD benefits.
- The court held that the district’s ban on concurrent dual compensation covers her federal retirement benefits. It reasoned that her CSRS benefits come from the District because her eligibility depended on her district employment and her pension was funded by withholdings from her district salary matched by district appropriations.
- Brummell suffered an emotional breakdown in June 1993 after extended on-the-job harassment and retaliatory treatment, then received TTD and medical benefits. The district terminated her TTD benefits in May 2006 over alleged noncompliance with vocational rehabilitation. She began collecting CSRS retirement benefits the next day, and an administrative law judge later restored her TTD benefits. After discovering she was receiving both, the Office of Risk Management terminated her TTD benefits in January 2020 and she sued to restore them again.
Employers Warned of Misclassification Risk When Employees Become Brand Influencers
- Employers that treat W-2 employees as independent contractors for influencer or brand-promotion work face increased misclassification risk, according to an analysis. Exposure can include wages, taxes, benefits, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and class or collective actions.
- The risk grows when the employer controls the content, such as by assigning projects, providing content briefs, requiring brand approvals, dictating the message or reusing the content in paid advertising. The work can then look like part of the employee’s regular job. The authors recommend treating employees’ creator activity as part of their employment unless a carefully analyzed basis supports a different arrangement.
- Time nonexempt employees spend creating content at the employer’s direction may be compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state law, and creator payments may have to be included in the regular rate for overtime.
Law Expands Workers’ Comp Benefits for Assaulted Workers
- Connecticut’s Public Act 26-12, effective Oct. 1, lets qualifying teachers, healthcare workers and other eligible employees who cannot work after an on-the-job assault receive 100% of their average weekly earnings without the usual statutory benefit cap. Under the standard system, eligible injured workers generally receive 75% of average weekly earnings after applicable tax deductions, subject to a statewide maximum.
- The law also covers reasonable medical treatment related to the assault and compensation for wages lost while attending associated court proceedings.
- For qualifying education employees, time missed because of a workplace assault cannot be deducted from accumulated sick leave, vacation time or personal days. Certain salary continuation protections may also apply, subject to workers’ compensation offsets.
- The expanded benefits cover certain teachers and employees of local and regional boards of education, qualifying personnel at institutions such as University of Connecticut and UConn Health, and healthcare employees who work directly with patients.