OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 447 Final Analysis
134th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 447’s Fiscal Note
Primary Sponsor: Rep. Lampton
Effective date: September 23, 2022
Effective Date:
Jill Rowland, Attorney UPDATED VERSION
SUMMARY
Makes a work from home employee ineligible to receive workers’ compensation unless
specific circumstances apply.
Allows, rather than requires as under former law, the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation
(BWC) to schedule a recipient of temporary total disability (TTD) compensation for a
medical examination after 200 weeks to evaluate whether the disability is permanent.
Allows, rather than requires as under former law, a self-insuring employer to request
that BWC schedule such an examination when the self-insuring employer’s employee
has received 200 weeks of TTD.
Eliminates a requirement that an application for a lump sum payment under the
Workers’ Compensation Law be notarized.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Workers’ compensation and work from home employees
The act makes an employee who performs the employee’s duties in a work area that is
located within the employee’s home and that is separate and distinct from the location of the
employer (a work from home employee) ineligible to receive compensation or benefits under
the Workers’ Compensation Law1 unless all of the following apply:
The employee’s injury or disability arises out of the employee’s employment.
This version updates the effective date.
1 R.C. Chapters 4121, 4123, 4127, and 4131.
July 6, 2022
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
The employee’s injury or disability was caused by a special hazard of the employee’s
employment activity.
The employee’s injury or disability is sustained in the course of an activity undertaken by
the employee for the exclusive benefit of the employer.2
Previously, eligibility criteria for receiving the compensation or benefits was the same
for employees who work from home and those who do not. In short, an employee, or the
employee’s dependents, could receive compensation or benefits for injury or death sustained
or occupational disease contracted, in the course of and arising out of employment wherever
the injury or death was sustained or occupational disease contracted. The act continues to
apply this criterion to nonwork from home employees.3
Continuing law requires, for an injury to be compensable under the Workers’
Compensation Law, the injury to be sustained in the course of, and arise out of, the employee’s
employment (regardless of whether the employee works from home). Generally speaking, the
test for whether an injury was sustained in the course of and arose out of employment is
whether a “causal connection” exists between the injury and the employment. The causal
connection can arise from the employee’s activities, the employment conditions, or the
employment environment. Whether sufficient causal connection exists depends on the totality
of the facts and circumstances of each case, including, but not limited to, the following:
The proximity of the scene of the accident to the place of employment;
The degree of control the employer had over the scene of the accident;
The benefit the employer received from the injured employee’s presence at the scene
of the accident.4
200-week medical exams
The act allows, rather than requires as under former law, the Bureau of Workers’
Compensation (BWC) to schedule a recipient of temporary total disability (TTD) compensation
for a medical examination after 200 weeks to evaluate whether the disability has become
permanent.
Similarly, the act allows, rather than requires as under former law, a self-insuring
employer that has paid an employee 200 weeks of TTD compensation to request that the BWC
schedule the examination described above. A self-insuring employer is an employer that has
been approved by the Administrator of Workers’ Compensation to pay compensation and
benefits directly to an employee.5
2 R.C. 4123.01.
3 R.C. 4123.54(A), not in the act.
4 Fisher v. Mayfield, 49 Ohio St.3d 275, 276-277 (1990).
5 R.C. 4123.56.
P a g e |2 H.B. 447
Final Analysis
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
These medical examinations are in addition to others required under continuing law.
When an employee receives TTD compensation for 90 consecutive days, the Administrator
must refer the employee for a medical examination to determine the employee’s continued
entitlement to TTD, the employee’s rehabilitation potential, and the appropriateness of the
medical treatment rendered. Additionally, the Administrator may require any employee
claiming a right to compensation to submit to periodic medical examinations at a location that
is reasonably convenient for the employee.6
Lump sum payments
Continuing law allows the Administrator to disburse compensation or benefits in one or
more lump sum payments when doing so is advisable to provide financial relief to (or further
the rehabilitation of) an injured or disabled employee. The act eliminates the requirement that
an application for a lump sum payment be notarized.7
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 10-06-21
Reported, H. Insurance 02-09-22
Passed House (97-0) 02-16-22
Reported, S. Insurance 05-27-22
Passed Senate (32-0) 06-01-22
22-ANHB447EN-UPDATED-134/ar
6 R.C. 4123.53, not in the act.
7 R.C. 4123.64.
P a g e |3 H.B. 447
Final Analysis
Statutes affected: As Introduced: 4123.01
As Reported By House Committee: 4123.01, 4123.56, 4123.64, 2935.01
As Passed By House: 4123.01, 4123.56, 4123.64, 2935.01
As Reported By Senate Committee: 4123.01, 4123.56, 4123.64, 2935.01
As Passed By Senate: 4123.01, 4123.56, 4123.64, 2935.01
As Enrolled: 4123.01, 4123.56, 4123.64