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WORKPLACE SAFETY

Pandemic Brings LiabilitiesIt is still unclear whether employers will be held liablefor workers’ compensationclaims associated with COVID- 19. At the same time, supplychain issues are already threatening business interruption.

It is no longer a question of ifCOVID- 19 will become a business issue, but how to preventit from becoming a significantone, and which aspects of an organization will be most affected.From worker’s compensationclaims to supply chain interruption, businesses have more questions than there are answers. Thefollowing is an attempt to at leastanswer some of those questions.

When Is COVID- 19 a
Worker’s Compensation
Claim?

Generally, when an employeecatches the flu from someoneat work, it is not covered underworkers compensation insurance. Those claims have beenfound not to be compensableand were denied. However, inthe case of COVID- 19, the answer is not very clear.

Instead, if an employee testspositive for COVID- 19 – regardless of how they caught the virus– and/or if an employee causesthe virus to spread among yourstaff and employees, your organization needs to file a worker’scompensation (WC) claim onbehalf of all infected workers.

In order for the claim to be cov-
ered, the employee(s) Y16
hen the corona-
virus pandemic
hit and the gov-
ernment rushed
to pass out money to fend off a
looming economic crisis, those
with the knowledge and con-
nections to get someone on the
phone who could get the funds
did so. Big corporations quickly
swooped in, pocketing millions
while small business owners and
entrepreneurs were still rum-
maging around looking for their
financial institution’s phone
number.
As the initial shock of the
pandemic-imposed shutdown
passed, a lot of consumers who
may have never given much
thought to those branches labeled
as “credit unions” suddenly took
another look.
Phones started ringing, online
banking business shot up and a
new generation of credit union
members was born.

Credit unions across the country have stepped up to help theircommunities, as well as offer newprograms, emergency assistanceand – in many cases – teach longtime members a whole new set ofbanking skills to help them dealwith a new reality.

To get a sense of how thingsplayed out for smaller and mid-sized operations, CU Times spokewith executives from two

OPERATIONS

GREG LANDgland@alm.com

Smaller CUs Respond to COVID- 19

Y17

VirtualFinancialAdvice

Make it standard atyour CU. Y14

BlendingScience andArt

Both are importantto lending. Y12

Execs
Reflect on
COVID- 19
Challenges
PETER STROZNIAK
pstrozniak@cutimes.com

s everyone hopes for
the best as business-
es gradually reopen
under the clouds of
Participating
in the webinar
moderated by
CU Times Editor-
in-Chief Michael
Ogden were David
Marovich, presi-
dent/CEO of the
$550 million 121
Financial Credit
Union in Jack-
sonville, Fla., and
Robin Marohn,
vice president of
marketing and
business develop-
ment at the $324 million Heart-
land Credit Union in Madison,
Wis.

Both Wisconsin and Floridahave drawn national and industryattention amid the coronaviruscrisis.

Wisconsin captured nationalheadlines when the state’s Y18

Marovich

Marohn

OPERATIONSFOCUSREPORT:MORTGAGE LENDING

The unprecedentedCOVID- 19 crisis has ledto an unprecedentedsurge in mortgagerefinancing. Find outhow CUs are respondingto the refi boom andother new real estatemarket trends in thisFocus Report. Y6