A comprehensive workers compensation reform package is headed to North Carolina’s Senate after receiving final approval in the state House.
The House’s adoption Wednesday of H.B. 709 is “a huge win for the business community,” the Raleigh-based North Carolina Chamber said in a statement.
The bill, sponsored by state Rep. R. Dale Folwell, R-Winston-Salem, resulted from extensive negotiations involving labor, employer groups and claimant attorneys.
Among other measures, the legislation limits the duration of temporary total disability benefits to 500 weeks, but allows workers to appeal that cap under certain conditions, according to the chamber. North Carolina currently does not cap such benefits.
The legislation also would extend temporary partial disability payments from 300 to 500 weeks and increase survivor