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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Atkins | |-----------+-----------------------------------------------------| |Version: |May 31, 2016 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Gideon L. Baum | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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, AB 2493 (Atkins) Page 2 of ? 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 AB 2493 (Atkins) Page 3 of ? 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. -- END --