BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 527
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Date of Hearing: June 26, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE
Henry T. Perea, Chair
SB 527 (Block) - As Introduced: February 21, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 31-5
SUBJECT : Workers' compensation: temporary disability benefits
SUMMARY : Authorizes "4850 benefits" for specified lifeguards
employed by the City of San Diego. Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego on a
full-time, year-round basis to the class of public safety
employees who receive special, enhanced temporary disability
benefits when they are unable to work due to illness or injury
that arose out of, or in the course of, employment.
2)Includes legislative findings that a special law is necessary
within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides for a comprehensive system of benefits paid for by
employers to employees who suffer illness or injury that
arises out of, or in the course of, employment.
2)Includes temporary disability benefits (TD) for up to 104
weeks if an employee is temporarily unable to work during
recuperation from the workplace illness or injury.
3)Establishes a minimum and a maximum amount that an employee
may receive, which is adjusted annually to reflect rising wage
levels. Currently the minimum benefit is $160 per week, and
the maximum benefit is $1066.72. The benefit is calculated
based on 2/3 of an employee's average weekly wages, subject to
the maximum cap.
4)Provides specified public safety officers with an enhanced
temporary disability benefit for up to the first year of
temporary disability. These safety officers receive their
full salary (tax free) during the first year of temporary
disability.
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5)Includes lifeguards who are full time year round employees of
the County of Los Angeles among the safety officers who are
entitled to this special enhanced temporary disability
benefit.
6)Provides that a special statute is invalid if a general
statute could be made applicable.
FISCAL EFFECT : Undetermined increased workers' compensation
costs to the City of San Diego.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose . According to the author, the approximately 90 year
round, full time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego
are peace officers within the definitions of the Penal Code,
are trained as emergency medical technicians and as
firefighters, have the authority to enforce the law and make
arrests, and as a result should be entitled to the same
benefits as other public safety officers. The author also
states that this class of employee is regularly engaged in
dangerous activities involving rescues both from cliffs and on
the water, and in firefighting on and from boats. The author
states that these employees have a higher serious injury rate
than the City's fire and police employees.
2)Temporary disability benefits . The goal of TD is to
approximate an employee's take home pay, and this goal is
implemented by basing the weekly TD benefit on 2/3 of the
employees average weekly wages. Because there is a cap,
employees who make more than $1600 per week do not reach this
2/3 goal, but because the benefit is tax free, most employees
receive an adequate TD benefit while they are recovering.
3)Special public safety benefits . Public safety officers
(police, sheriff, and firefighter employees generally) receive
certain special workers' compensation benefits that other
employees do not receive. Most notably, this class of
employee has the benefit of a range of "presumptions" that
certain illnesses or injuries are automatically deemed to be
work related. Other employees are required to prove that
their condition is work related. The second significant
special workers' compensation benefit is granted by Labor Code
Section 4850 - commonly referred to as "4850 time" - and this
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law grants defined employees up to one year of full salary in
lieu of the regular method for calculating TD benefits.
4)Tax advantages . Because these benefits are paid due to
disability, they are not subject to either state or federal
taxes. This applies to regular TD benefits, and to 4850
benefits. Because of the tax-free status of this benefit, a
public safety officer takes home substantially more in weekly
benefits than they normally earn while working - i.e., normal
take home pay plus what would normally have been paid in
taxes. Public employers have long complained that there is a
disincentive in getting injured public safety officers to
return to work even if they are able due to the financial
disincentive they would suffer when they return.
5)Lifeguards . It appears that the year round, full-time
lifeguards employed by Los Angeles County were included in the
original legislation in 1983 that established Labor Code
Section 4850. It is not clear why those employees were
included, nor whether they perform substantially public safety
and law enforcement duties, as is claimed by the City of San
Diego lifeguards. However, if the expansion of public safety
officer benefits to other classes of employee is appropriate,
the legislation should be clear that the employees must be
public safety officers, as these San Diego employees assert
that they are. The bill might be clarified by amendment so
that it applies to the defined class of lifeguard, provided
that the employees meet one of the peace officer
classifications as defined in the Penal Code.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council (sponsor)
California Labor Federation
California Applicant Attorneys Association (CAAA)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mark Rakich / INS. / (916) 319-2086
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