BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2493 (Atkins) - Firefighters: disability
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|Version: May 31, 2016 |Policy Vote: L. & I.R. 5 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 2493 would extend "4850 leave" to firefighters
employed by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CalFIRE).
Fiscal
Impact: CalFIRE indicates that would incur increased annual cost
of $4.7 million (special fund) to implement the provisions of
the bill, related to higher disability payments, overtime, and
increased staffing needs.
Background: Current 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. Generally speaking, under current law an
injured worker who is unable to work is entitled to two years of
AB 2493 (Atkins) Page 1 of
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temporary disability benefits. These benefits are designed to
partially offset the loss of wages for workers unable to work in
the aftermath of an injury. The benefit amount is 67 percent of
a worker's average weekly wage during the past 12 months.
Labor Code Section 4850 provides specified categories of peace
officers with a higher wage loss benefit. An eligible public
safety officer who becomes disabled while performing his or her
duties is entitled to a one-year leave of absence without loss
of salary in lieu of temporary disability payments. These
employees include:
City police officers.
City, county, or district firefighters.
Sheriffs.
Inspectors, investigators, detectives, or personnel with
comparable titles in any district attorney's office.
County probation officers, group counselors, or juvenile
services officers.
Lifeguards employed by a county of the first class or
the City of San Diego.
Airport law enforcement officers.
Harbor or port police officers, wardens, or special
officers of a harbor or port district or city or county
harbor department.
Police officers of the Los Angeles Unified School
District.
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State firefighters employed by the Department of
Justice.
Proposed Law:
The bill would extend "4850 leave" to rank-and-file and
supervisorial firefighters employed by CalFIRE, whose principal
duties include active fire suppression or prevention services.
Related
Legislation: SB 527 (Block), Statutes of 2013, Chapter 66,
extends "4850 leave" to lifeguards employed by the City of San
Diego.
Staff Comments: CalFIRE indicates that the bill could cost the
department $4.7 million annually, based on the increment between
costs currently paid to firefighters under Enhanced Industrial
Disability Leave (100 percent of the net salary) and the amount
that would be required for those same claims under this bill
(100 percent of the gross salary). This amount is approximately
a 50 percent increase over existing costs.
Overtime would be necessary to help backfill the fire
suppression positions that are on leave. Currently, CalFIRE is
unable to determine how many employees are eligible for Enhanced
Industrial Disability Leave. However, the department indicates
that the approximate cost for the overtime for every 100
firefighters would cost $3.5 million to cover the increment
between current Enhanced Industrial Disability Leave and the one
year afforded under this bill. The overtime costs would increase
to the extend that pay increases are provided.
Additionally, the department would require 1.0 Associate
Governmental Program Analyst position at a cost of $136,000,
annually, and 2.0 Staff Services Analyst positions at a cost of
AB 2493 (Atkins) Page 3 of
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$238,000 annually, resulting from the increase in workload
arising from the need to provide close management of the claims
with the goal of returning injured employees to work as quickly
as possible.
Finally, at the end of the one year period of the leave of
absence, if an employee remains temporarily disabled, then the
employee would be eligible to receive Temporary Disability
payments for an additional year. The increased cost of the
benefit itself is further compounded by the cost of overtime to
fill behind the injured employee while the employee recovers.
The magnitude of these costs is unknown.
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