Spouses get more benefits in Tennessee

• Beginning July 1, when the law goes into effect, spouses will be eligible to receive nearly six and a half years of payments under the workers’ comp law in Tennessee.
• Under current law, surviving spouses only receive a little over five and a half years of pay.
• One widow of a deceased worker lobbied lawmakers to make the change after she received workers’ comp benefits after his death with stipulations.
• She had to be alive and could not remarry. Those benefits in no way would have transferred to her sons because they were over age 18.
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Connecticut makes change to workers’ comp law

• Connecticut lawmakers approved a change to workers’ comp law during the 2023 legislative session.
• SB 913, which expands workers’ compensation benefits to cover post-traumatic stress injuries, passed the House on a 104-44 vote on June 1 after earlier winning unanimous approval from the Senate.
• To be eligible, an employee must witness the death of an individual, or witness an individual lose a vital body part while at work.
• The Connecticut Business and Indutsrry Association lobbied for the change.
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Update on Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old

• The first-grade teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in Virginia earlier this year is no longer working for the school and didn’t accept workers’ comp funds.
• The school district’s human resources department began processing workers’ compensation for victim, Abby Zwerner, “immediately” after the shooting, and she was on administrative leave with pay until workers’ compensation payments began.
• Price said Zwerner refused workers’ compensation, so HR staff used her sick leave.
• Had Ms. Zwerner accepted workers’ compensation, she would have received 66 2/3% of her average weekly wages tax-free, and she has filed a lawsuit against the school district.
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