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HB5279 / File No. 237 1
General Assembly File No. 237
February Session, 2026 House Bill No. 5279
House of Representatives, March 30, 2026
The Committee on Labor and Public Employees reported
through REP. SANCHEZ, E. of the 24th Dist., Chairperson of
the Committee on the part of the House, that the bill ought to
pass.
AN ACT ADDING WITNESSING A SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY AS A
QUALIFYING EVENT FOR PURPOSES OF POST-TRAUMATIC
STRESS INJURY WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 31-294k of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2026): 3
(a) As used in this section: 4
(1) "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease designated by the 5
World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, 6
and any related mutation thereof recognized by the World Health 7
Organization as a communicable respiratory disease; 8
(2) "Eligible individual" means a police officer, firefighter, emergency 9
medical services personnel, Department of Correction employee, 10
telecommunicator or health care provider, and on and after January 1, 11
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2024, an employee; 12
(3) "Emergency medical services personnel" has the same meaning as 13
provided in section 20-206jj; 14
(4) "Employee" has the same meaning as provided in section 31-275; 15
(5) "Firefighter" has the same meaning as provided in section 7-313g; 16
(6) "Health care provider" means (A) a person employed at a doctor's 17
office, hospital, health care center, clinic, medical school, local health 18
department or agency, nursing facility, retirement facility, nursing 19
home, group home, home health care provider, any facility that 20
performs laboratory or medical testing, pharmacy or any similar 21
institution, or (B) a person employed to provide personal care 22
assistance, as defined in section 17b-706, in or about a private dwelling, 23
provided such person is regularly employed by the owner or occupier 24
of the dwelling for more than twenty-six hours per week; 25
(7) "In the line of duty" means any action that an eligible individual 26
is obligated or authorized by law, rule, regulation or written condition 27
of employment service to perform, or for which the eligible individual 28
is compensated by the public entity such individual serves, except that, 29
in the case of a volunteer firefighter, such action or service constitutes 30
fire duties, as defined in subsection (b) of section 7-314b; 31
(8) "Mental health professional" means a board -certified psychiatrist 32
or a psychologist licensed pursuant to chapter 383, who has experience 33
diagnosing and treating post-traumatic stress injury; 34
(9) "Parole officer" means an employee of the Department of 35
Correction who supervises inmates in the community after their release 36
from prison on parole or under another prison release program; 37
(10) "Police officer" has the same meaning as provided in section 7 -38
294a, except that "police officer" does not include an officer of a law 39
enforcement unit of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe or the Mohegan 40
Tribe of Indians of Connecticut; 41
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(11) "Post-traumatic stress injury" means an injury that meets the 42
diagnostic criteria for post -traumatic stress disorder as specified in the 43
most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's 44
"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"; 45
(12) "Qualifying event" means: 46
(A) An event occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2019, in 47
which a police officer, parole officer, firefighter , emergency medical 48
services personnel, Department of Correction employee or 49
telecommunicator: 50
(i) Views a deceased minor; 51
(ii) Witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death 52
of a person; 53
(iii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies before or 54
upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result 55
of any other intervening cause; 56
(iv) Has physical contact with and treats an injured person who 57
subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of 58
the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause; 59
(v) Carries an injured person who subsequently dies before or upon 60
admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result of any 61
other intervening cause; [or] 62
(vi) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a 63
vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent 64
disfigurement of the victim; or 65
(vii) On and after October 1, 2026, witnesses a serious physical injury 66
to a person that does not result in (I) the death of such person, or (II) the 67
loss of a vital body part or a vital body function that results in a 68
permanent disfigurement of such person; 69
(B) An event arising out of and in the course of employment on or 70
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after March 10, 2020, in which an eligible individual who is a health care 71
provider is engaged in activities substantially dedicated to mitigating or 72
responding to the public health and civil preparedness emergencies 73
declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, or any extension of such 74
emergency declarations; and: 75
(i) Witnesses the death of a person due to COVID -19 or due to 76
symptoms that were later diagnosed as COVID-19; 77
(ii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies as a result 78
of COVID-19 or due to symptoms that were later diagnosed as COVID-79
19; 80
(iii) Has physical contact with and treats or provides care for a person 81
who subsequently dies as a result of COVID-19 or due to symptoms that 82
were later diagnosed as COVID-19; or 83
(iv) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a 84
vital body function of a person due to COVID -19 or due to symptoms 85
that were later diagnosed as COVID-19; or 86
(C) An event arising out of and in the course of employment on and 87
after January 1, 2024, in which an employee: 88
(i) Views a deceased minor; 89
(ii) Witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death 90
of a person; 91
(iii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies before or 92
upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result 93
of any other intervening cause; 94
(iv) Has physical contact with and treats an injured person who 95
subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of 96
the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause; 97
(v) Carries an injured person who subsequently dies before or upon 98
admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result of any 99
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other intervening cause; [or] 100
(vi) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a 101
vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent 102
disfigurement of the victim; or 103
(vii) On and after October 1, 2026, witnesses a serious physical injury 104
to a person that does not result in (I) the death of such person, or (II) the 105
loss of a vital body part or a vital body function that results in a 106
permanent disfigurement of such person; 107
(13) "Serious physical injury" has the same meaning as provided in 108
section 53a-3; 109
[(13)] (14) "Telecommunicator" has the same meaning as provided in 110
section 28-30; and 111
[(14)] (15) "Witnesses" means, for an eligible individual who is a 112
telecommunicator, hears by telephone or radio while directly 113
responding to an emergency call that constitutes a qualifying event 114
under this section and providing a dispatch assignment. 115
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2026 31-294k(a)
LAB Joint Favorable
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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Department of Administrative
Services - Workers' Comp.
Claims
App Fund -
Potential Cost
See Below See Below
Note: App Fund=All Appropriated Funds
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Various Municipalities STATE
MANDATE1
- Potential
Cost
See Below See Below
Explanation
The bill results in a potential cost to the Department of
Administrative Services – Worker’s Compensation Claims and various
self-insured municipalities beginning in FY 2 7 to the extent qualified
personnel apply for workers’ compensation benefits due to the
expanded population eligible for such benefits due to post -traumatic
stress injuries.
Any potential increase in the number of workers' compensation
claims resulting from this bill is not anticipated to be great enough to
1 State mandate is defined in Sec. 2 -32b(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes, "state
mandate" means any state initiated constitutional, statutory or executive action that
requires a local government to establish, expand or modify its activities in such a way
as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues.
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result in a fiscal impact to the Workers' Compensation Commission.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.
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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5279
AN ACT ADDING WITNESSING A SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY AS
A QUALIFYING EVENT FOR PURPOSES OF POST -TRAUMATIC
STRESS INJURY WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE.
SUMMARY
This bill expands the range of “qualifying events” that allow
employees to qualify for workers ’ compensation benefits for a post -
traumatic stress injury (PTSI). Current law generally limits these
qualifying events to witnessing events involving someone’s death ( for
example, witnessing a death or an injury that subsequently led to death)
or traumatic physical injury that results in their loss of a vital body part
or function that results in permanent disfigurement.
The bill allows an employee to qualify for PTSI benefits by witnessing
someone’s serious physical injury that does not result in their death or
loss of a vital body part or function that results in their permanent
disfigurement. Under the bill, a “serious physical injury” is a physical
injury that creates a substantial risk of death, or causes serious
disfigurement, serious impairment of health, or serious loss or
impairment of a bodily organ’s function. As under the law for other
PTSI benefits, to qualify:
1. the employee must witness the serious physical injury in the line
of duty or in the course of employment;
2. a qualified mental health professional must diagnose the
employee with PTSI as a direct result of witnessing the injury;
and
3. the PTSI cannot be due to a disciplinary action, work evaluation,
job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination,
retirement, or similar action.
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The bill’s PTSI benefits for witnessing a serious physical injury are
subject to the same limitations and procedures that apply to other PTSI
benefits. Among other things, these (1) cap the benefits’ duration at 52
weeks; (2) prohibit the benefits from bei ng awarded more than four
years after the qualifying event; and (3) require that employers contest
a claim for PTSI benefits through a process that is generally similar to
the one used for contesting other workers’ compensation claims,
although with different deadlines.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 9 Nay 4 (03/12/2026)