BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 335|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 335
Author: Solorio (D)
Amended: 5/27/11 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMM. : 6-0, 6/22/11
AYES: Lieu, Wyland, DeSaulnier, Leno, Padilla, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-0, 7/11/11
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Pavley, Price,
Runner, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Lieu
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-2, 6/1/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Workers compensation: notices
SOURCE : CSAC Excess Insurance
California Coalition on Workers Compensation
DIGEST : This bill requires the Administrative Director
(AD) of the Division of Workers Compensation, in
consultation with the Commission on Health and Safety and
Workers' Compensation (CHSWC) to prescribe reasonable rules
and regulations for serving workers' compensation claims
notices on an employee. This bill requires the AD, in
consultation with the CHSWC, to make available on the
Department of Industrial Relations' Internet Web site, and
make available at district offices, informational material
CONTINUED
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that describes the overall workers' compensation claims
process.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes a workers'
compensation system, administered by the AD of the Division
of Workers' Compensation (DWC) within the Department of
Industrial Relations (DIR), to compensate an employee for
injuries that arise out of, or in the course of,
employment. Employers are required to secure the payment of
workers' compensation for injuries incurred by their
employees. Existing law establishes the CHSWC, within the
DIR, as a joint labor-management body created by the
workers' compensation reform legislation of 1993 and
charged with overseeing the health and safety and workers'
compensation system in California, and recommending
administrative and/or legislative modifications to improve
their operation.
Existing law provides for specified procedures to be used
in notifying employees regarding benefits and required
actions in pursuing a workers' compensation claim.
Existing law requires that specified notices be provided to
injured employees and prescribes the contents of notices
required to be posted, given to, or mailed to an employee.
The administrative director is responsible for prescribing
rules and regulations pertaining to these notices.
Existing law also contains numerous statutorily prescribed
statements that must be used in certain notices.
This bill requires the AD of the Division of Workers'
Compensation to prescribe rules and regulations regarding
notices that are provided to employees in the workers'
compensation system.
Specifically, this bill:
1. Adds a requirement that the AD consult with the CHSWC
when prescribing the rules and regulations governing
notices required to be provided to employees regarding
their rights under the workers' compensation system.
2. Expands the subjects of information that benefit notices
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shall include by adding notice of supplemental job
displacement benefits, rights concerning selection of a
personal treating physician, requests for comprehensive
medical evaluation, and offers of regular, modified, or
alternative work.
3. Requires the AD, in consultation with the CHSWC, to
develop, and make readily available, including on the
DWC Web site, informational material written in plain
language that describes the overall workers'
compensation claims system, including the rights and
obligations of employees and employers at every stage of
a claim when a notice is required.
4. Adds a requirement that each notice prescribed by the
AD, as required by law, be in plain language and include
a citation to the place in the informational material
that discusses relevant information to enable employees
to understand the context of the notices.
5. Makes a number of conforming changes, such as deletion
of specific statutory language regarding notices, which
have the effect of implementing the above requirements.
Comments
In response to widespread concern that the system of
notifying injured workers of their rights, and how to
navigate, in the workers' compensation system was failing,
the CHSWC undertook an evaluation of the efficacy of the
notices that are provided to injured workers. This
evaluation included working with all relevant stakeholders
to determine what the goals of these notices should be,
whether the goals were being met, and if not, what could be
done to improve the situation.
In July 2010, the CHSWC released a report, "Report on
Benefit Notices and Recommendation," which concluded that
there is consensus that currently-used benefit notices are:
Too voluminous (wordy, redundant, and frequently contain
information that is not needed by the recipient).
Complex, overwhelming, and frightening (e.g., "You may
lose important rights unless you . . . .").
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Difficult to understand (Indirect terminology, overly
legalistic), and at times misleading.
Not standardized.
Difficult for employers to keep updated.
In addition, the CHSWC found that it was difficult for
injured workers to find information on their own, or obtain
answers to questions. As a result, in addition to
improving the quality and effectiveness of the notices, the
CHSWC recommended that a plain language booklet be made
readily available on the Division's website and through
other means of delivery.
This bill was introduced in order to implement the
recommendations made by the CHSWC.
The bill requires the AD of the DWC to work with CHSWC to
develop new benefit notices written in easily
understandable language as well as informational material
which describes the workers' compensation claims process
and the rights and obligations of both employers and
employees.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
Fund
Develop and disseminate Up to $100 Minor, absorbable
costs Special*
workers' compensation annually
claims notice information
* Workers' Compensation Administration Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/14/11)
CSAC Excess Insurance (co-source)
California Coalition on Workers' Compensation (co-source)
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Acclamation Insurance Management Services
Allied Managed Care
Association of California Insurance Companies
California Association of Joint Powers Authorities
California Chamber of Commerce
California Labor Federation
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
California Nurses Association
California State Association of Counties
League of California Cities
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to proponents of this
bill, today, injured workers receive notice after notice,
often written in legalese that is incomprehensible to most
workers. They argue that an approach to streamline,
simplify and clarify these notices is long overdue.
Proponents argue that this bill will create better outcomes
for injured workers by providing them with more digestible
information at key points in the claims process. According
to proponents, this should lead to a reduction in
frictional legal expenses that result from confusion and
poor communication. Lastly, according to proponents, CHSWC
estimates that this legislation will provide a net savings
of over $42 million per year.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-2, 06/01/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. Pérez
NOES: Conway, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Garrick, Gorell, Jeffries, V. Manuel
Pérez
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PQ:do 7/14/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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