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
SB 667 (Jackson) Page 2
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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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