BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Senator Tony Mendoza, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2493 Hearing Date: June 22,
2016
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|Author: |Atkins |
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|Version: |May 31, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Gideon L. Baum |
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Subject: Firefighters: disability
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature extend "4850 leave" to firefighters
employed by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection?
ANALYSIS
Existing law :
1) 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.
2) Provides for the payment of indemnity benefits if the
occupational injury causes temporary or permanent
disability which prevents the worker from returning to his
or her job. In the case of temporary disability payments,
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the benefit is two-thirds of the weekly loss in wages due
to disability for up to 104 weeks within 5 years (Labor
Code §§4650, 4653, 4654 and 4656).
3) 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.
These employees include:
a) City police officers;
b) City, county, or district firefighters;
c) Sheriffs;
d) County probation officers, group counselors, or
juvenile services officers; and
e) State Firefighters employed by the Department of
Justice.
This leave of absence is set forth in Labor Code Sections 4800
and 4850 and is sometimes referred to as "4850 leave".
This bill extends "4850 leave" to rank-and-file and
supervisorial firefighters employed by the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFIRE), whose principal duties
include active fire suppression or prevention services.
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
As was discussed above, California's workers' compensation
system provides a temporary disability (TD) indemnity benefit
for injured workers who are temporarily unable to return to
work. TD benefits replace up to 66% of an injured workers'
pay for up to 2 years. However, for California's peace
officers, state law requires that 100% of the injured worker's
pay is provided in lieu of the first year of TD benefits.
This is known as "4850 leave", named after one of the Labor
Code sections which creates the leave.
Under existing law, "4850 leave" is extended to firefighters
employed by the Department of Justice, but it is not extended
to firefighters employed by CalFIRE. AB 2493 would address
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this discrepancy by extending "4850 leave" to CalFIRE
firefighters.
2. Proponent Arguments :
Proponents note that current law extends full salary leave for
industrial injuries to specified peace officers and
firefighters from specified state agencies. While local,
county, and DOJ employed firefighters are covered by existing
law, proponents note that CalFIRE firefighters are not
covered, despite similar job requirements. Proponents argue
that this inequity is profoundly unjust in the face of the
challenges and dangers facing CalFIRE firefighters, and
believe that AB 2493 is necessary to correct the injustice and
extend full salary leave for industrial injuries to CalFIRE
firefighters.
3. Opponent Arguments :
None on file.
4. Prior Legislation :
SB 527 (Block), Statutes of 2013, Chapter 66, extends "4850
leave" to lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego.
SUPPORT
California Professional Firefighters (Co-Sponsor)
CAL FIRE Local 2881 (Co-Sponsor)
California Labor Federation
California State Firefighters' Association
OPPOSITION
None on file.
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