During the State of Emergency, many thousands of workers are still reporting to work to care for the sick, help ensure stores are stocked with food/necessities, and more. These essential workers have put their health on the line to keep us all safe, secure, and at home. We need to ensure we are protecting them in every way from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Those workers who do sick from the highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 from exposure at work must receive the workers' compensation benefits they are due. This will ensure that essential workers don’t have to use their own paid time off or sick time to quarantine, treat or recover from COVID-19. It will provide support for workers who don’t have access to expanded paid sick time, for workers who have no health insurance, and workers’ compensation to pay for the costs of treatment for COVID-19. In the tragic event a worker dies from COVID-19 they contracted at work, workers' compensation provides death benefits to spouses and children.

Unfortunately, employers are trying to undermine these benefits by claiming their employees were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 off the job. We cannot accept this indignity, nor their attempts to dismantle the safety workers have spent generations building.

They need your help this week to make sure that’s possible.

H4739, An Act creating a presumption of relatedness for essential workers suffering from COVID-19 creates “occupational presumption” to ensure that that any essential worker reporting to work outside their home who contracts SARS-CoV-2 is presumed to have gotten it from exposure to SARS-CoV-2 at work. This week is your one and only chance to submit testimony in support of this important legislation either in written or video/audio format to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development.

Using this sample testimony, please follow the below instructions to let you’re the Committee know you stand with essential workers who have done so much for us during this historic and frightening pandemic.

Members of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development,

I support H4739, An Act creating a presumption of relatedness for essential workers suffering from COVID-19 with amendments requested by Representative Ken Gordon because it is the least we can do to support workers who have supported us during the current State of Emergency. The last thing essential workers should worry about is wondering how they will pay for medical care if they develop COVID-19 or how they will pay their bills if they are forced to quarantine to protect public health. It is the right and moral thing to do ensure that essential workers have the protections provided for in H4739. It has my full, unwavering support. Thank you.

Your name
Organization (if applicable)
phone number

 Instructions to submit testimony

For individuals looking to send video or audio testimony, please fill out the following Google Form and upload your testimony. The Google Form shall remain open until 5:00 PM on Friday June 5th. (To submit via google form you have to be logged in to a google account, if you cannot submit via google form you can upload your testimony on another site such as Youtube and email that testimony).

To email written testimony, please send your testimony either as an attached PDF or in the body of an email to Robert Cohen at Robert.Cohen@MaHouse.gov and Mark Martinez at Mark.Martinez@masenate.gov no later than 5:00pm on Friday, June 5th, 2020. Please make sure to include LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TESTIMONY in the subject line. We also request you provide the committee with your name, organization, and phone number.