Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
Abstract
Modern workers’ compensation schemes set out to provide financial relief to employees who contract an occupational disease during employment, like miners contracting black lung or contractors exposed to asbestos. Certain professions are understood to stand a particular risk of exposure to contagious diseases. Health-care workers interact with persons carrying contagious disease as a matter of course. What workers’ compensation does not cover are diseases which are so prevalent they are considered an “ordinary disease of life.” These diseases, like the common cold, influenza, or pneumonia, could be contracted by persons regardless of their profession, and workers’ compensation acts generally limit employers’ liability for such diseases.
Recommended Citation
"Workers' Comp and Contagious Disease: History and Future." Mich. B.J. 100, no. 1 (2021): 42-4.
Included in
Administrative Law Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, Labor and Employment Law Commons, Workers' Compensation Law Commons