BILL NUMBER: SB 351	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 24, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator La Malfa

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2011

   An act  to amend Section 4706.5 of the Labor Code, 
relating to workers' compensation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 351, as amended, La Malfa. Workers' compensation: fatal
accidents.
   Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system,
administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of
Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries
sustained in the course of employment. Existing law requires
statutory death benefits to be paid to the employee's dependents, or,
if there are no dependents, to the personal representative of the
deceased employee, heirs, or other persons entitled to compensation,
as prescribed.  Under existing law, when benefits are due to a
deceased employee and the employee has no one surviving to whom the
benefit should be paid, the compensation is required to be paid to
the Department of Industrial Relations for reimbursement of other
injury claims, as specified.  
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation relating to workers' compensation in the case of fatal
on-the-job accidents.  
   This bill would prohibit the department from seeking payment of an
amount owed pursuant to this provision by obtaining a lien on writ
of execution relating to a judgment obtained by a member of the
immediate family of the deceased employee, unless the member of the
immediate family is the employer for whom the deceased employee was
working at the time of the fatal injury. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 4706.5 of the   Labor
Code   is amended to read: 
   4706.5.  (a) Whenever any fatal injury is suffered by an employee
under circumstances that would entitle the employee to compensation
benefits, but for his or her death, and the employee does not leave
surviving any person entitled to a dependency death benefit, the
employer shall pay a sum to the Department of Industrial Relations
equal to the total dependency death benefit that would be payable to
a surviving spouse with no dependent minor children.
   (b) When the deceased employee leaves no surviving dependent,
personal representative, heir, or other person entitled to the
accrued and unpaid compensation referred to in Section 4700, the
accrued and unpaid compensation shall be paid by the employer to the
Department of Industrial Relations.
   (c) The payments to be made to the Department of Industrial
Relations, as required by subdivisions (a) and (b), shall be
deposited in the General Fund and shall be credited, as a
reimbursement, to any appropriation to the Department of Industrial
Relations for payment of the additional compensation for subsequent
injury provided in Article 5 (commencing with Section 4751), in the
fiscal year in which the Controller's receipt is issued.
   (d) The payments to be made to the Department of Industrial
Relations, as required by subdivision (a), shall be paid to the
department in a lump sum in the manner provided in subdivision (b) of
Section 5101.
   (e) The Department of Industrial Relations shall keep a record of
all payments due the state under this section, and shall take any
steps as may be necessary to collect those amounts.
   (f) Each employer, or the employer's insurance carrier, shall
notify the administrative director, in any form as the administrative
director may prescribe, of each employee death, except when the
employer has actual knowledge or notice that the deceased employee
left a surviving dependent.
   (g) When, after a reasonable search, the employer concludes that
the deceased employee left no one surviving who is entitled to a
dependency death benefit, and concludes that the death was under
circumstances that would entitle the employee to compensation
benefits, the employer may voluntarily make the payment referred to
in subdivision (a). Payments so made shall be construed as payments
made pursuant to an appeals board findings and award. Thereafter, if
the appeals board finds that the deceased employee did in fact leave
a person surviving who is entitled to a dependency death benefit,
upon that finding, all payments referred to in subdivision (a) that
have been made shall be forthwith returned to the employer, or if
insured, to the employer's workers' compensation carrier that
indemnified the employer for the loss. 
   (h) When a payment is owed to the Department of Industrial
Relations pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), the department may not
seek payment of the amount by obtaining a lien or writ of execution
relating to a judgment obtained by a member of the immediate family
of the deceased employee, unless the member of the immediate family
is the employer for whom the deceased employee was working at the
time of the fatal injury.  
   (h) 
    (i)  This section does not apply where there is no
surviving person entitled to a dependency death benefit or accrued
and unpaid compensation if a death benefit is paid to any person
under paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 4702. 
  SECTION 1.    It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation relating to workers' compensation in the case of
fatal on-the-job accidents.