Bills Would Allow Benefits for Work-Related Horseplay, Adopt Substantial Factor Standard

A pair of bills filed ahead of the 2021 legislative session would revise the prohibition on workers collecting workers’ compensation benefits for fighting or horseplay and replace the prevailing factor standard for determining compensability in Kansas with a substantial factor test. House Bill 2016, by Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, would declare that an injury is deemed to arise out of employment only if there is a causal connection between work and an accident and the accident is “a substantial factor causing the injury.” The law currently requires that the accident be ...