BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 897|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 897
Author: Roth (D), et al.
Amended: 8/19/16
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 4/6/16
AYES: Mendoza, Stone, Leno, Mitchell
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jackson
SENATE FLOOR: 35-0, 5/23/16
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno,
Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach,
Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Roth, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Morrell, Pavley, Runner, Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 71-2, 8/22/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Workers compensation
SOURCE: California Professional Firefighters
Riverside Police Officers Association
DIGEST: This bill grants an additional year of injury leave for
police officers, firefighters, or sheriffs if they suffer a
"catastrophic injury at the hands of another" during active duty
or through active firefighting operations.
Assembly Amendments define "severe" injury.
SB 897
Page 2
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 (TD) 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) Inspectors, investigators, detectives, or personnel with
comparable titles in any district attorney's office;
e) County probation officers, group counselors, or juvenile
services officers; and
f) Lifeguards employed by Los Angeles County or the City of
San Diego.
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Page 3
This leave of absence is set forth in Labor Code Section 4850
and is sometimes referred to as "4850 leave".
This bill:
1)Extends an additional year of injury leave for city police
officers, city, county, or district firefighters, and sheriffs
if:
a) The injured worker is employed on a regular, full-time
basis regardless of their period of service; and
b) The injured worker suffers a "catastrophic injury at the
hands of another" during active duty through the actions of
another or through active firefighting operations without
respect to the cause of the fire.
1)Defines a "catastrophic injury at the hands of another" as
including:
a) Severe burns;
b) Severe bodily injuries resulting from the collapse of a
building; and
c) Severe bodily injuries resulting from a shooting,
stabbing, or other battery.
2)Defines "severe" as the loss of limb, cognitive function, or
other major bodily function that substantially jeopardizes the
injured worker's permanent ability to regain maximum function.
3)Excludes peace officers from the City and County of San
Francisco and also clarifies that the injury leave cannot be
longer than 104 weeks.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/22/16)
SB 897
Page 4
California Professional Firefighters (co-source)
Riverside Police Officers Association (co-source)
Association for Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs
Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs
Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Protection District
California Applicant's Attorney Association
California School Employees Association, AFL-CIO
California Statewide Law Enforcement Association
Fraternal Order of Police
Laborers International Union of North America Locals 777 & 792
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Orange County Deputy Sheriffs
Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, Local 3631
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Riverside Sheriff's Association
Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association
San Bernardino Police Officers Association
SEIU California
OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/22/16)
Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Protection District
California Association of Joint Powers Authorities
California Coalition of Workers' Compensation
California Insurance Pool Authority
California Police Chiefs Association
California Special Districts Association
California State Association of Counties
California State Association of Counties- Excess Insurance
Authority
California State Sheriffs' Association
City of Anderson
City of Buena Park
City of Chino
City of Fountain Valley
City of Grover Beach
City of Menifee
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City of Monrovia
City of Montclair
City of Newport Beach
City of Plymouth
City of Rancho Cucamonga
City of Redding
City of San Luis Obispo
City of Santa Maria
City of Torrance
City of Ventura
City of Villa Park
City of Visalia
CSAC Excess Insurance Authority
League of California Cities
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Mayor and City Council of the City of Sacramento
Public Agency Risk Sharing Authority of California
Rural County Representatives of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Proponents note that California's
firefighters, police officers, and sheriffs face significant
risks on the job, including a higher likelihood of injury.
Proponents argue that the existing leave provisions reflect
that, as the Governor and Legislature wanted to ensure that a
peace officer facing those risks would not face financial
devastation. Proponents argue that SB 897 continues this
tradition by granting California's firefighters, police
officers, and sheriffs an additional year of leave in order to
return to active duty after a catastrophic injury. Proponents
note that this extra year will allow firefighters, police
officers, and sheriffs to heal from their injuries and return to
work when they can, rather than rush back to work still injured
and possibly hurt themselves and others.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Opponents note that, under current
law, police officers, sheriffs, and firefighters have access to
a year of paid leave under Labor Code Section 4850, as well as a
year of 2/3 wage replacement through TD benefits, both of which
are tax-free benefits. Opponents argue that these benefits are
significant, and are paid out by self-insured cities and
SB 897
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counties on a pay-as-you-go basis. Opponents argue that
requiring additional disability benefits will require cities and
counties to remove funding from existing services, without
necessarily resulting in the injured police officer, sheriff, or
firefighter returning to work.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 71-2, 8/22/16
AYES: Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow,
Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos,
Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo
Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gray, Grove, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Patterson,
Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth,
Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk,
Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Achadjian, Harper
NO VOTE RECORDED: Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gordon, Hadley,
Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen
Prepared by:Gideon L. Baum / L. & I.R. / (916) 651-1556
8/22/16 22:15:42
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