BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
Mark DeSaulnier, Chair
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2010 2009-2010 Regular
Session
Consultant: Michael Magill Fiscal:No
Urgency: Yes
Bill No: AB 586
Author: Ma
Version: As Amended March 23, 2010
SUBJECT
Workers' compensation: employees of the City and County of San
Francisco: leaves of absence.
KEY ISSUE
Should San Francisco deputy sheriffs, probation officers,
institutional police, and certain members of the District
Attorney's office be granted the right to receive a leave of
absence for up to one year without loss of salary in lieu of
temporary disability payments?
PURPOSE
To correct an inadvertent drafting error that excluded San
Francisco deputy sheriffs, probation officers, institutional
police, and certain members of the District Attorney's office
from receiving Labor Code Section 4850 workers' compensation
benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses.
ANALYSIS
Existing law:
Establishes a comprehensive system of workers'
compensation that provides a range of benefits for
employees who are injured on the job. These benefits
include temporary disability payments, which are designed
to be wage replacement payments for the period the injured
employee is temporarily unable to work due to the
on-the-job injury. Temporary disability benefits are
intended to replace two-thirds of the employee's regular
wages, subject to a maximum cap.
Provides that certain public employees employed on a
regular, full-time basis regardless of their period of
service, who incur on the job injury or illness, are
entitled to receive disability payment for up to one year
or earlier if the employee retired on permanent disability,
and is actually receiving disability pension payment. This
leave of absence is set forth in Labor Code Section 4850.
Lists the following safety officers as being eligible
for benefits set forth in Labor Code Section 4850: city
police officers; county sheriffs and sheriffs' deputies;
city, county or district firefighters; district attorney
investigators; probation officers; certain special district
police officers; certain lifeguards; certain airport law
enforcement officers; certain harbor security personnel;
and police officers of the Los Angeles Unified School
District.
Denies eligibility for Labor Code Section 4850 to
persons who work in safety-related offices who are
classified as clerks, stenographers, telephone operators,
machinists, and mechanics.
Specifies certain public employees to whom the
above-described provisions do not apply, including certain
employees of the City and County of San Francisco.
This Bill :
Would amend Labor Code Section 4850 to include San
Francisco deputy sheriffs, probation officers,
institutional police, and certain members of the District
Attorney's office allowing them to be able to receive
workers' compensation for work-related injuries or illness.
Would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
Hearing Date: April 28, 2010 AB 586
Consultant: Michael Magill Page 2
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
an urgency statute.
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
AB 1227 (Feuer), Statutes 2009, Chapter 389, removed the
requirement that safety officers can only be eligible for 4850
leave time if they belong to a public retirement system, and
instead only requires that the safety officers be employed on
a regular, full-time basis. However, due to a drafting error,
language that was designed to address the concerns of a small
group of safety officers employed by the City and County of
San Francisco instead excluded all safety officers employed by
the City and County of San Francisco. Prior to the passage of
this bill, all eligible safety officers employed by the City
and County of San Francisco received some form of 4850 leave
time. This bill would address this drafting error, and
retroactively apply that solution to January 1, 2010.
2. Proponent Arguments :
A drafting error in AB 1227 inadvertently caused some San
Francisco peace officers that were already covered by Labor
Code Section 4850 leave time to lose the benefit. The
proponents note that 4850 "time" is a critical tool for
officers injured in the line of duty, and that this accidental
exclusion unfairly deprives the hard-working safety officers
of the City and County of San Francisco the necessary leave to
heal from occupational injuries.
3. Opponent Arguments :
None on file.
4. Prior Legislation :
AB 586 corrects a drafting error to AB 1227 (Feuer), Statutes
2009, Chapter 389, which was discussed above.
Hearing Date: April 28, 2010 AB 586
Consultant: Michael Magill Page 3
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
SUPPORT
Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) -
Sponsor
City and County of San Francisco - Co-Sponsor
California Applicants' Attorneys Association (CAAA)
OPPOSITION
None on file
* * *
Hearing Date: April 28, 2010 AB 586
Consultant: Michael Magill Page 4
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations