Key Takeaways:

• SB0071/HB0800 specifies that 25% of the net recovery by a claimant on a claim for workers’ compensation will be subject to execution on a judgment for a child support arrearage.

• HB0902/SB0839 establishes that a hernia caused as a result of repetitive trauma may be considered an occupational disease and be compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act.

• SB0377/HB0590 alters the circumstances under which an employer/insurer would be entitled to an offset of the liability of benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act.

The 2023 legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly concluded with a total of three bills that passed, which impact Workers’ Compensation law in Maryland. The new laws take effect on October 1, 2023. There were several new pieces of legislation proposed that could have negatively impacted the defense bar, but that were ultimately not passed.

Execution on a Judgment – Child Support Arrearages – Workers’ Compensation

The purpose of SB0071/HB0800 is to clarify the amount of indemnity benefits or settlement proceeds in a workers’ compensation claim that are subject to a judgment for child support arrearages. As a result of this bill, 25% of the net recovery by a claimant for workers’ compensation indemnity benefits, to include weekly benefits or settlement proceeds, are subject to execution on a judgment for child support arrearages. However, please note, this law does not seem to impact a claimant’s obligation for ongoing/current child support payments and their potential impact on weekly indemnity benefits. The pertinent language of the new law is as follows:

(2) Twenty–five percent of the net recovery by the debtor [on a claim for personal injury] is subject to execution on a judgment for a child support arrearage ON A CLAIM FOR: (I) PERSONAL INJURY; OR (II) WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INDEMNITY BENEFITS, INCLUDING ANY WEEKLY BENEFITS OR SETTLEMENT PROCEEDS PAYABLE TO THE DEBTOR.

Labor and Employment – Workers’ Compensation – Hernia

HB0902/SB0839 has established that a hernia caused as a result of repetitive trauma may now be considered an occupational disease and be compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act, subject to certain provisions. Historically, a hernia could only be claimed as an accidental injury and was subject to stricter compensability standards in order to be found compensable. Now, if a claimant can demonstrate that the hernia was caused by repetitive trauma, it can be claimed as an occupational disease and those stricter standards may not necessarily apply. However, if a hernia is claimed as an occupational disease, it will be subject to last injurious exposure rule and the other provisions of Labor & Employment 9-502. The pertinent language of the new law is copied below:

(C) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS TITLE, A HERNIA CAUSED AS A RESULT OF REPETITIVE TRAUMA MAY BE: (1) CONSIDERED AN OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE; AND (2) COMPENSABLE SUBJECT TO § 9–502 OF THIS SUBTITLE.

Workers’ Compensation – Benefits – Offset and Study

SB0377/HB0590 alters the circumstances under which an employer/insurer would be entitled to an offset of the liability of benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act where a covered employee receives a payment of a benefit by a governmental unit or quasi-public corporation. The pertinent language of the alteration of the law is capitalized in the text below:

(a) (1) Except for benefits subject to an offset under § 29–118 of the State 11 Personnel and Pensions Article, if a statute, charter, ordinance, resolution, regulation, or policy, regardless of whether part of a pension system, provides a benefit to a covered employee of a governmental unit or a quasi–public corporation that is subject to this title under § 9–201(2) of this title or, in case of death, to the dependents of the covered employee, payment of the benefit by the employer satisfies, to the extent of the payment, the liability of the employer and the Subsequent Injury Fund for payment of [similar] benefits under this title ONLY IF THE PAYMENT OF THE BENEFIT BY THE EMPLOYER AND THE PAYMENT FOR BENEFITS UNDER THIS TITLE ARE BASED ON THE SAME ACCIDENTAL INJURY OR OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, ON THE SAME BODY PART.

The language in the new law does not substantially alter the previous circumstances under which an offset can be pursued. The only added requirement is that the payments made by the employer and payments made under the Workers’ Compensation Act must be based on the same accidental injury, in whole or in part, on the same body part. This bill has a one-year contingency and requires the Maryland Association of Counties and the Professional Fire Fighters of Maryland to jointly research and report data and analysis on the effect of the Act by December 1, 2024 to the Maryland General Assembly and other interested parties. The impact of this bill will be reviewed next year and is subject to reconsideration.