Workers’ Compensation and Civil Litigation Consultation & Defense
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CALIFORNIA COMMITTEES ADVANCE WORKERS’ COMP BILLS - by Debra Tobias
2022-05-23
Last week the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 5-1 to pass SB 1127, which would reduce the time employers have to accept liability for a claim and would create a $100,000 penalty for unreasonably denying some claims by first responders. SB 1127 will amend Sections 3761, 4656, and 5402 of, and add Section 5414.3 to, the Labor Code, relating to workers’ compensation. Existing law requires an injured employee to file a claim form with the employer, and, except for specified injuries, if liability is not rejected within 90 days after the date the claim form is filed with the employer, the injury is presumed compensable and the presumption is rebuttable only by evidence discovered subsequent to the 90-day period. This bill would reduce those 90-day time periods to 60 days for all injuries and employees and, for certain injuries or illnesses, including hernia, heart trouble, pneumonia, or tuberculosis, among others, sustained in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder, would reduce those time periods to 30 days.
This bill would require, if liability for an injury has been unreasonably rejected for specified claims of injury or illness, including hernia, heart trouble, pneumonia, or tuberculosis, among others, sustained in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder, the amount of the penalty to be 5 times the amount of the benefits unreasonably delayed due to the rejection of liability. The bill would limit the penalty to no more than $100,000. The bill would require the appeals board to determine the question of whether the rejection of liability is reasonable. The bill would apply this provision to all injuries, without regard to whether the injury occurs before, on, or after the operative date of the bill.
Further, existing law prohibits aggregate disability payments for a single injury occurring on or after January 1, 2008, causing temporary disability from extending for more than 104 compensable weeks within a period of 5 years from the date of injury, except if an employee suffers from certain injuries or conditions. This bill would, for specified firefighters and peace officers claiming illness or injury related to cancer, increase the number of compensable weeks to 240 without limitation as to time from the date of injury.
The Committee also Voted 12-3 to pass AB 1751, which would extend COVID-19 presumptions. SB 1159, enacted in September of 2020, created within the Labor Code a rebuttable presumption for COVID-19 illnesses contracted before July 5, 2020 (§ 3212.86), for specified peace officers and firefighters (§ 3212.87), and during an outbreak (§ 3212.88). AB 1751 would amend the expiration date of these Labor Code sections from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2025. AB 1751 does nothing more than extend the expiration date of these sections by two years. Like SB 1159, AB 1751 places the burden on California employers to prove specified employees did not contract COVID-19 at work.
The measures can now go to the floors of their respective chambers for final votes. The deadline for the full Assembly and Senate to pass and send bills to the opposite chamber is May 27.