GQ Corner
Q. The claimant is taken off work due to a broken finger on 11-30-20. The claimant had already had vacation time scheduled on this same date. Claimant opted to stay on vacation otherwise, he was going to lose it at the end of the year. Can we use this PIE and not initiate TIBs or do I need to initiate TIBs as he reached his 8th day of lost time already and once he uses all vacation, can I start TIBs from there?
A. Yes, if the employee voluntarily elected to use his accrued sick leave or accrued annual leave after the date of injury, those wages count as post injury earnings (PIE). See Rule 129.2(c)(4). If the PIE are equal to or greater than the preinjury AWW, then no TIBs are owed so long as the PIE continue. If the PIE are less than the preinjury AWW, then partial TIBs are due.
Q. If an employee becomes ill after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine at work, is this illness compensable? Would your answer be different if the vaccine shot was mandatory or voluntary?
A. Well, of course, the employee would have to prove that the illness was caused by the vaccine. It does matter if it was voluntary or mandatory: Health tests and inoculations are work-related if there is an element of actual compulsion emanating from the employer. If the taking of a test is a precondition to holding a job, then the employment is a concurrent cause of the test.