BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2493|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2493
Author: Atkins (D)
Amended: 5/31/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/22/16
AYES: Mendoza, Stone, Jackson, Leno, Mitchell
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-0, 6/2/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Firefighters: disability
SOURCE: CAL FIRE Local 2881
California Professional Firefighters
DIGEST: This bill extends 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
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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, the benefit is
two-thirds of the weekly loss in wages due to disability for
up to 104 weeks within five 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 (CAL FIRE), 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'
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pay for up to two 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 CAL FIRE. AB 2493 addresses this
discrepancy by extending "4850 leave" to CAL FIRE
firefighters.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 527 (Block, Chapter 66, Statutes of 2013) extends "4850
leave" to lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, CAL FIRE
indicates that it would incur increased annual cost of $4.7
million (special fund) to implement the provisions of this bill,
related to higher disability payments, overtime, and increased
staffing needs.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/11/16)
CAL FIRE Local 2881 (co-source)
California Professional Firefighters (co-source)
California Labor Federation
California State Firefighters' Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/11/16)
None received
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: 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 Department of Justice employed
firefighters are covered by existing law, proponents note that
CAL FIRE 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 CAL FIRE
firefighters, and believe that AB 2493 is necessary to correct
the injustice and extend full salary leave for industrial
injuries to CAL FIRE firefighters.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-0, 6/2/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia,
Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley,
Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bigelow, Brough, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Kim,
Melendez, Obernolte
Prepared by:Gideon L. Baum / L. & I.R. / (916) 651-1556
8/15/16 20:22:22
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