Gov. Ned Lamont is empowering state labor officials to determine whether individuals seeking unemployment benefits are returning to a safe work environment.
The governor on Monday signed a four-page executive order that, among other changes, allows the state Department of Labor (DOL) to consider whether COVID-19 poses an “unreasonable” health risk to a worker or a member of their household when determining eligibility for unemployment benefits.
The order, effective immediately, comes as Lamont says individuals should still receive unemployment benefits if their risk of infection from returning to work during the COVID-19 pandemic was too high.
In determining risk, the labor agency is asked to consider the individual’s or household member’s health, and a worker’s physical capabilities and mental requirements of the job. The order remains in effect for the remainder of the public health and civil preparedness emergency.
According to the DOL, the agency has processed more than 530,000 of about 565,000 claim applications providing more than $1.8 billion in unemployment benefits since the virus began to spread across the state in mid-March. That amount, typically seen over a period of several years, includes $672 million in state benefits, over $1.13 billion in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and $37 million in pandemic unemployment assistance.
The order also implements other temporary safety measures for workers in certain healthcare facilities during the COVID-19 outbreak.
For example, Lamont’s order makes COVID-19 testing mandatory for all staff and residents at nursing homes, assisted living facilities and elderly residential communities.
Experts have said that the lack of broad testing at Connecticut nursing homes and other facilities is a major reason why infection rates and coronavirus fatalities at those institutions have been so high and deadly.
State officials have reported that nearly 4,000 people in Connecticut have died of coronavirus-related causes. Last month, as the state began wider-scale nursing home testing, resident deaths accounted for nearly 60% of all COVID-19 fatalities in Connecticut.
A CT Mirror report contributed to this story
