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An Act To Establish a Presumption of Impairment of Health in the Line of Duty for Corrections Employees under the Workers' Compensation Laws
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  39-A MRSA §328-C  is enacted to read:
§ 328-C. Impairment of health caused by infectious disease suffered by a corrections employee
Impairment of health by infectious disease suffered by a corrections employee is governed by this section.
 
1.  Definitions.     As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
 
A.  "Corrections employee" means an employee of the State or of a county whose place of employment is a corrections facility as defined in Title 34-A, section 1001, subsection 6 or a county detention facility under Title 34-A, section 1208 or 1208-A.
 
B.  "Infectious disease" means a disease resulting from the presence and activity of a pathogenic microbial agent, including, but not limited to, bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites.
 
2.  Presumption.     If a corrections employee successfully passed a physical examination upon entry into service as a corrections employee, or subsequently successfully passed a physical examination, and the examination or examinations failed to reveal any evidence of a condition of impairment of health caused by an infectious disease, then a condition of impairment of health caused by an infectious disease resulting in total or partial disability or death of that corrections employee is presumed to have been suffered in the line of duty, unless the contrary is shown by competent evidence.
 
SUMMARY
This bill amends the workers' compensation laws by adding a presumption that a condition of impairment of health caused by an infectious disease resulting in total or partial disability or death of a corrections employee is presumed to have been suffered in the line of duty, unless the contrary is shown by competent evidence.