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City Council Moves to Provide Death Benefits for Employees Who Take Own Lives After Traumatic Events on Job

Official:Amending Title 22 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Public Employees Retirement Code," by modifying the circumstances when certain City of Philadelphia employees are entitled to service-connected death benefits, all under certain terms and conditions

Sponsor: Council President Johnson

Introduced: May 14, 2026

Signed: June 11, 2026

: Committee on Finance

retirementpublic employeesdeath benefits

Plain-Language Summary

This bill amends the Philadelphia Code to provide service-connected death benefits for City of Philadelphia employees who die by suicide after experiencing a traumatic event in the line of duty. The benefit is available if the employee had a psychiatric disorder diagnosed due to exposure to a traumatic event, or if they acted within 45 days after such an event.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Service-connected death benefits are now available to City of Philadelphia employees who die by suicide after experiencing a traumatic event in the line of duty, if the event was a substantial factor in their suicide.
To qualify for this benefit, the employee must have had a psychiatric disorder diagnosed due to exposure to the traumatic event, or must have acted within 45 days after the event.
The benefit is administered by the Board, which may use the services of a Medical Panel to determine whether the death was service-connected.
Death benefits paid under this provision (1.2) are in addition to, not in place of, benefits payable under other provisions, including subsection (1).

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