Critical Situation

azucar022 · September 2003

We have a situation in our business, where some of our employees have been exposed to that horrible, terrible black mold. We have had it evaluated by OSHA and they have confirmed it. We have taken immediate action to have it removed and it is coming along. Many of our employees have been exposed and one of the employees had to be hospitalized and was out for approx. 2 weeks. Now since the person has returned, she is indicating that she will not sign her absence form and indicates that the employee is responsible for her illness and that we should pay her days of absence and she will not use her sick leave. We don't know how to respond. HELP

Don D · September 2003

Sounds to me like a worker's comp claim. If she was hospitalized to the mold in the building, it's pretty cut and dried. She may or may not draw a comp check or short term disability if you have that. Comp typically pays 66.66% of the employees wage for days missed.

azucar022 · September 2003

Ok, she has filed a worker's comp. claim, but she wants 100% of her pay check payed not 66.66%
She is stating this illness was inflicted on her thus she should get 100% of her pay check

Don D · September 2003

In most states, the law states that 'workers' comp is the sole remedy for industrial accidents and injuries'; therefore, the individual has no other remedy available. The company is not obligated to comply with her protests.

LindaS · September 2003

If the medical records support that she became ill as a result of an exposure at work, it is obviously a workers comp. scenario. As far as pay goes, unless you have a policy that calls for paying the ee in excess of what WC pays, I wouldn't do anything other than let the insurance company handle it. I would NOT force the ee to use any sick leave and/or vacation time. This situation would be no different than if the ee fell and broke their leg at work and was unable to work for 2 weeks. WC would pay them the 66% of their average weekly wage. I would inform the ee that any payments they are due will come from the insurance company.

Safety Witch · September 2003

Worker's comp laws were intended to be a "no fault" remedy. Since she has filed a claim, she has no other recourse to the company unless she can prove negligence by the company. Many employees argue with the 66.66% w/c payments, but that is their trade-off for still having a job, getting their medical paid in full, and time-loss payments which are tax free.

marc · September 2003

We had a similar situation. Mold was discovered in an office that we share with a state agency under a services contract. Once mold was discovered, we pulled our staff from the building and would not allow them to return until the situation was mitigated.

Our three employees filed claims and did several of the state employees. The WC carrier denied the claims and two years later they are still being appealed. The ees only missed a couple of days and asked for leave of absence with pay instead of using sick days. Mold issues were new to us at the time, so we granted their request. While this may not have been the "right answer", it seemed the prudent, protective way to go.

SMace · September 2003

Her 66 2/3% is tax free, so generally that works out to be close to 100% of there pay. You can figure out if that is the case by looking at her net pay. Also the 66 2/3% is of average GROSS wages. State law usually determines how you calculate the average.

Critical Situation

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