Changes In Ohio Workers Comp Laws

In response to an Ohio Supreme Court decision, the conditions were revised under which chemical testing of an employee may establish a rebuttable presumption that the employee’s injury was proximately caused by the use of alcohol or an unprescribed controlled substance, thus affecting the employee’s eligibility to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. Whereas prior law expressly required that an employee be given written notice, present law requires only that the employer post a written notice to employees that the results of, or the employee’s refusal to submit to, any chemicaltest described in the act may affect thebenefits was reduced from 6 years to 3 years.The Department of Labor and Industry is to adopt rules to ensure that an injured worker who requests vocational rehabilitation services or has received more than 90 continuous days of temporary total benefits is screened for benefits. If found eligible, a worker shall have an initial vocational assessment and be offered services. The rule equiring employers to refer an injured worker to vocational rehabilitation when they had received temporary total disability for 90 days was repealed.The statutory language that created a presumption that an on-premise recreational activity is compensable was repealed.Workers’ compensation insurers are now required to file an annual report regarding cases in which temporary total benefits have been paid continuously for 2 or more years. Medical benefits include prescription drugs and durable medical equipment. Employers are required to provide assistive devices (for example, wheelchair) and modifications to vehicles and residences to those who are or expected to be permanently disabled.An individual in agriculture or farming does not need to purchase a workers’ compensation insurance policy unless their aggregate payroll is $10,000 or more (previously, the threshold was $2,000 or more).