Certain situations that you may face as a law enforcement officer allow you to automatically qualify for workers’ compensation.
There are various state laws that provide presumptions for conditions that are immediately assumed to be related to your job without requiring further proof they were caused by doing your normal duties.
How presumptions work
When a law includes a presumption, it is saying that the condition is a result of your work. It does not matter if your job really caused the condition or not. For example, there are presumptions for hernias and pneumonia that if they develop when you are an employee, then they make you eligible for workers’ compensation.
Some examples
Beyond hernias and pneumonia, presumptions also include tuberculosis, heart issues and cancer. Presumptions also cover some infectious diseases and exposure to biological risks. Another common health issue is lower back injuries, which for law enforcement, become an automatically covered condition if you have to wear a duty belt.
Reasoning behind presumptions
Presumptive injuries or illnesses are common ailments in the profession. It can be difficult to determine how exactly they manifested or what the root cause is. For that reason, workers’ compensation makes presumptions that they are covered conditions.
If you are a law enforcement professional and suffer any type of illness or injury, you should check whether it is a presumption. You may be eligible for workers’ compensation even if you are not sure if your job contributed or caused the ailment. Presumptions allow you to make a claim for a condition that is likely to be a result of your job or otherwise aggravated by your job.