BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó





          SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
                             Senator Tony Mendoza, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:               SB 667       Hearing Date:    April 22,  
          2015
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          |Author:    |Jackson                                              |
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          |Version:   |April 6, 2015                                        |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |Yes              |
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          |Consultant:|Alma Perez-Schwab                                    |
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            Subject:  Disability insurance:  eligibility:  waiting period


          KEY ISSUE
          
          Should the Legislature allow an individual suffering from a  
          non-work related injury or illness and who is receiving State  
          Disability Insurance (SDI) benefits [and has served the  
          necessary unpaid 7-day waiting period to receive benefits] to  
          re-apply for SDI within 60 days after the initial application  
          without having to serve a second 7-day unpaid waiting period? 


          ANALYSIS
          
           The existing California State Disability Insurance (SDI) program   
          provides short-term Disability Insurance (DI) and Paid Family  
          Leave (PFL) benefits to eligible workers temporarily unable to  
          work due to non-work related illness or injury, pregnancy, or  
          childbirth.  Individuals may also be eligible for PFL to care  
          for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a new child.   
          The SDI program, administered by the Employment Development  
          Department (EDD), is a state-mandated partial wage-replacement  
          insurance plan funded through employee payroll deductions.  
          Eligible individuals can receive disability benefits equal to  
          one-seventh (1/7th) of his or her weekly benefit amount for each  








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          full day during which he or she is unemployed due to a  
          disability if the director of EDD makes specified findings,  
          including that:
             a)   He or she has made a claim for disability benefits as  
               required by authorized regulations.
             b)   He or she has been unemployed and disabled for a waiting  
               period of 7-consecutive days during each disability benefit  
               period. During this 7-day waiting period, no disability  
               benefits are payable.  (Labor Code §2627) 

           Existing law  defines "disability benefit period" as the  
          continuous period of unemployment and disability beginning with  
          the first day for which the individual files a valid claim for  
          disability benefits.  Existing law provides that if an  
          individual receives two consecutive periods of disability due to  
          the same or related cause or condition and separated by a period  
          of not more than 14 days, then they are considered as one  
          disability benefit period.   (Labor Code §2608)
           

          This Bill  would waive the 7-day waiting period for an individual  
          who has already served the 7-day waiting period for the initial  
          claim when that person files a subsequent claim for disability  
          benefits for the same or a related condition within 60 days  
          after the initial disability benefit period.  
           This Bill  would also require the director of EDD to submit a  
          report regarding the effect of the modified waiting period to  
          the Legislature by January 1, 2020, as specified.


          COMMENTS
          
          1.  Need for this bill?

            Under the SDI program, an employee must serve a waiting period  
            of seven consecutive days of wage loss prior to receiving  
            partial wage replacement disability benefits. If an employee  
            returns to work after a period of temporary disability for  
            more than 2 weeks before experiencing a reoccurrence of the  
            same condition they must re-serve the seven consecutive day  
            waiting period before being eligible for additional benefits.  
            According to the Employment Development Department, in 2014  
            there were a total of 699,486 SDI claims filed of which 5,853  
            were from individuals who filed multiple claims for the same  
            condition.  







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            The author argues that this second waiting period  
            significantly disadvantages employees who are managing a  
            chronic illness or injury, like chronic debilitating back pain  
            or those who have returned to work after initial cancer  
            treatment, but must have chemotherapy treatments every three  
            weeks. This bill would address this problem by extending from  
            two weeks to 60 days the period of time under which an  
            employee can reopen a disability insurance claim without  
            having to suffer a new 7-consecutive day waiting period of  
            wage loss while waiting to be eligible for SDI benefits.

          2.  Proponent Arguments:

            The author believes that this measure would ensure that the  
            SDI system better serves the needs of employees managing  
            chronic health conditions.  According to the author, if an  
            employee returns to work after a period of disability in which  
            they served the seven consecutive-day unpaid waiting period  
            before drawing SDI benefits, that employee shouldn't have to  
            serve another seven consecutive-day unpaid waiting period, if  
            they must leave work again within a two month period for  
            additional treatment. The author argues that the unpaid  
            waiting period places an unnecessary hardship on workers  
            managing a chronic health condition and disincentives  
            employees from returning to work as soon as and for as long as  
            possible.  

            Proponents argue that for an injured or ill worker who is  
            forced to stop working during treatment for a serious health  
            condition, every day without wage replacement adds to the  
            layers of distress they are already experiencing. Many of  
            these workers are facing life-changing diagnoses, rising  
            health care costs and the limitations that treatment may put  
            on their ability to earn an income.  Proponents site as an  
            example, a patient who takes one week of leave every three  
            weeks for chemotherapy will never be eligible for benefits  
            because he or she will have to re-serve the waiting period  
            during each instance of leave.  This bill, they argue, is a  
            common sense reform that will allow workers with serious  
            health issues better and more reliable access to much needed  
            SDI benefits.  

          3.  Opponent Arguments  :








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            None received. 
          
          SUPPORT
          
          Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center - Sponsor
          California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
          California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
          National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
          UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Social  
          Work Department

          
          OPPOSITION
          
          None received 

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