BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
Ted W. Lieu, Chair
Date of Hearing: April 10, 2013 2013-2014 Regular
Session
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Fiscal:No
Urgency: No
Bill No: SB 527
Author: Block
As Introduced/Amended: February 21, 2013
SUBJECT
Workers' compensation: public employees: leaves of absences.
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature extend "4850 Leave" to full-time
lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego?
ANALYSIS
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system that
provides benefits to an employee who suffers from an injury or
illness that arises out of and in the course of employment,
irrespective of fault. This system requires all employers to
secure payment of benefits by either securing the consent of the
Department of Industrial Relations to self-insure or by securing
insurance against liability from an insurance company duly
authorized by the state.
Existing law 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. These employees include:
a) City police officers;
b) City, county, or district firefighters;
c) Sheriffs;
d) Inspectors, investigators, detectives, or personnel with
comparable titles in any district attorney's office;
e) County probation officers, group counselors, or juvenile
services officers; and
f) Lifeguards employed by a county of the first class.
This leave of absence is set forth in Labor Code Section 4850
and is sometimes referred to as "4850 leave".
This bill would allow lifeguards employed year-round by the City
of San Diego on a regular, full-time basis by the City of San
Diego to be eligible for 4850 leave.
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
The author notes, while that current law provides 4850 leave
for full-time lifeguards employed by the County of Los
Angeles, current law does not provide leave for lifeguards
employed by cities. This includes the City of San Diego,
which has lifeguards patrolling similar coast lines with
similar responsibilities, including water rescue and providing
emergency medical assistance to beachgoers. Lifeguards for the
City of San Diego are also certified as Emergency Medical
Technicians (EMTs).
Additionally, according to the City of San Diego's Lifeguard
Services website, all San Diego lifeguards are classified as
peace officers and enforce beach regulations, which can
include citation, arrests, and impounding vessels. The
website also notes that lifeguards are expected to staff the
Lifeguard Communications Center 24 hours a day, which involves
routing 911 calls and marine radio distress calls.
The author and proponents argue that these job roles are
virtually indistinguishable from lifeguards currently covered
by 4850 leave, but City of San Diego lifeguards aren't covered
because they aren't employed by a County. SB 527 would
address this by extending the provisions of 4850 leave to the
Hearing Date: April 10, 2013 SB 527
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 2
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
City of San Diego's lifeguards.
2. How Many Lifeguards would SB 527 Impact?
The City of San Diego's Lifeguard Services website states that
the City's lifeguard department is one of the largest in the
country, currently employing close to 300 lifeguards. Los
Angeles County employs 132 full time lifeguards and 650
seasonal lifeguards.
3. Proponent Arguments :
Proponents argue that lifeguards employed by the City of San
Diego have a virtually identical set of responsibilities to
lifeguards employed by Los Angeles County, yet San Diego's
lifeguards do not qualify for 4850 leave. Proponents also
note that San Diego's lifeguards are trained as EMTs and act
peace officers when enforcing beach regulations, which can
arrests and citations. Noting that the City of San Diego's
lifeguards are a division of San Diego's Fire-Rescue
Department, and many of the personnel in that Department are
currently cover by 4850 leave.
4. Prior Legislation :
AB 2397 (Solorio) of 2010 would have authorized a public
agency and a peace officer to mutually agree to extend a leave
of absence with full pay applicable to the public safety
officer injured on the job beyond the one year period
authorized by law for up to one additional year. AB 2397 was
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
AB 1227 (Feuer), Statutes 2009, Chapter 389, removes 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.
SUPPORT
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council (Sponsor)
Hearing Date: April 10, 2013 SB 527
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 3
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
OPPOSITION
None on file.
Hearing Date: April 10, 2013 SB 527
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 4
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations