BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1379
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Date of Hearing: June 22, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE
Tom Daly, Chair
SB
1379 (Mendoza) - As Amended May 31, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 39-0
SUBJECT: Workers' compensation: depositions: interpreters
SUMMARY: Requires interpreters to identify themselves on the
record at workers' compensation hearings and depositions.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires an interpreter to provide the following information,
on the record, in any situations where interpreter services
are being provided for a hearing under the Workers'
Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) or at a deposition:
a) The name of the certified interpreter;
b) The certification number;
c) A statement that the interpreter's identification has
been verified by the workers' compensation judge or the
party who called the deposition;
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d) The language to be interpreted; and
e) If the interpreter is a certified court interpreter, a
statement that the interpreter's oath was administered to
the certified court interpreter or that he or she has an
oath on file with the court.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes a comprehensive system to provide benefits to
employees who are injured or suffer conditions that arise out
of or in the course of employment, including a formal
administrative adjudication program to resolve disputes over
the right to, or extent of, benefits owed to the injured
employee.
2)Requires that, if the injured employee cannot effectively
communicate with his or her treating physician because he or
she cannot proficiently speak or understand the English
language, the injured employee is entitled to the services of
a qualified interpreter during medical treatment appointments.
Interpreter services must be paid for by the employer or
insurer.
3)Provides that the WCAB or any party to the action or
proceeding may, in any investigation or hearing before the
appeals board, cause the deposition of witnesses residing
within or without the state.
4)Provides that, if the employer or insurer requests a
deposition and interpretation services are required because
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the injured employee or deponent does not proficiently speak
or understand the English language, upon a request from
either, the employer shall pay for the services of a language
interpreter certified or deemed certified by law.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)
indicates that it would incur first-year costs of $876,000 and
ongoing costs of $815,000 (special fund) annually thereafter to
implement the provisions of the bill. The DIR could also incur
increased costs associated with interpreter liens.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, interpreters and
interpretive services have been a topic of significant
legislation in recent years. Most significantly, SB 863
(DeLeon), Chapter 363, Statutes of 2012, required that
interpreters in the California workers' compensation system
must be certified. Prior to the passage of SB 863, nearly all
stakeholders reported significant fraudulent activity among
non-certified interpreters. For the purposes of hearings or
depositions, the certification must be done by either the
State Personnel Board (SPB) or the court system.
Recently, the Interpreters Guild of America (IGA), which is the
sponsor of SB 1379, has reported persistent interpretive
services fraud at both WCAB hearings and depositions.
Specifically, IGA reports that non-certified interpreters are
interpreting at hearings and depositions and signing in using
the name and certification number of someone else, or using
their own name but using someone else's certification number.
This raises the spectre of injured workers receiving
interpreting services from individuals who are fraudulently
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providing interpretive services they are not qualified to
provide, undermining the workers' compensation system and
victimizing an injured worker.
The bill seeks to address this by requiring that certified
interpreters in the workers' compensation system state the
same information on the record as certified interpreters at
court proceedings. The author and sponsor believe that
requiring a certified interpreter to state their name and
certification number on the record, as well as requiring that
the information is verified by a workers' compensation
administrative law judge or deposed party, will ensure that
injured workers or witnesses that require language assistance
are receiving appropriate language services.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Interpreters Guild of America
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by:Mark Rakich / INS. / (916)
319-2086
SB 1379
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