A bill introduced in the Connecticut legislature would expand a rebuttable COVID-19 presumption to essential workers who contracted the virus outside of a preset time frame last year, a local news site reported.

Gov. Ned Lamont last summer issued an executive order creating a presumption that essential workers who caught COVID-19 between March 10 and May 20 last year did so while on the job, CT Examiner reported.

However, many essential workers who may have contracted the virus at work outside that specified period would not be eligible for the presumption and could have a hard time filing a successful claim, CT Examiner reported.

House Bill 6478 would establish a presumption that would be active for essential workers throughout the pandemic and would retroactively place a burden on employers to prove that their employees did not catch the virus while at work.

HB 6478 also would increase the state’s comp burial benefits, which pay for funeral expenses for workers who die after contracting COVID-19 on the job. 

The bill would increase the current benefit amount to $20,000 from $4,000.