Amended in Assembly March 28, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2383

Introduced by Assembly Member Achadjian

February 21, 2014

An act to amend begin delete Section 1771 of the Labor Code, relating to public works. end delete begin insert Sections 4800.5 and 4850 of the Labor Code, relating to workers’ compensation. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2383, as amended, Achadjian. begin delete Public works: prevailing wages. end delete begin insert Workers’ compensation: payments: public safety employees. end insert

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Existing law establishes a workers’ compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment.

end insert begin insert

Existing law requires that whenever an eligible sworn member of the Department of the California Highway Patrol is disabled by a single injury, excluding disabilities that are the result of cumulative trauma or cumulative injuries, arising out of and in the course of his or her duties, he or she is entitled, regardless of his or her period of service with the department, to a leave of absence while disabled without loss of salary, in lieu of disability payments, for a period not exceeding one year. Benefits payable for eligible sworn members of the department whose disability is solely the result of cumulative trauma or injury are limited to the actual period of temporary disability or entitlement to a vocational rehabilitation maintenance allowance, or for one year, whichever is less.

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This bill would delete all references to the entitlement to a vocational rehabilitation maintenance allowance as an alternative to temporary disability.

end insert begin insert

Existing law provides that, whenever a person in one of specified categories of local public safety employees, who is employed on a regular, full-time basis, is disabled, whether temporarily or permanently, by injury or illness arising out of and in the course of his or her duties, that person is entitled, regardless of his or her period of service, to a leave of absence while so disabled without a loss of salary in lieu of disability payments, or to a vocational rehabilitation maintenance allowance payments, if any, for the period of the disability, not exceeding one year.

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This bill would specify that the above provisions apply with respect to a single injury only, and would delete the above reference to the entitlement to a vocational rehabilitation maintenance allowance as an alternative to temporary disability.

end insert begin delete

Existing law generally defines “public works” for the purposes of requirements regarding the payment of prevailing wages, to include construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds. Existing law generally requires that not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to workers employed on public works projects, and imposes misdemeanor penalties for a violation of this requirement. Existing law exempts certain projects from the prevailing wage requirements, including public works projects of less than $1,000.

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This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these provisions.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 4800.5 of the end insert begin insert Labor Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

4800.5.  

(a) Whenever begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert sworn member of the Department
of the California Highway Patrol is disabled by a single injury,
excluding disabilities that are the result of cumulative trauma or
cumulative injuries, arising out of and in the course of his or her
duties, he or she begin delete shall become end delete begin insert is end insert entitled, regardless of his or her
period of service with the patrol, to begin insert a end insert leave of absence while so
disabled without loss of salary, in lieu of disability payments under
this chapter, for a period of not exceeding one year. This section
shall apply only to members of the Department of the California
Highway Patrol whose principal duties consist of active law
enforcement and shall not apply to persons employed in the
Department of the California Highway Patrol whose principal
duties are those of telephone operator, clerk, stenographer,
machinist, mechanic, or otherwise clearly not falling within the
scope of active law enforcement service, even though this person
is subject to occasional call or is occasionally called upon to
perform the duties of active law enforcement service.

(b) Benefits payable for eligible sworn members of the
Department of the California Highway Patrol whose disability is
solely the result of cumulative trauma or injury begin delete shall be end delete begin insert is end insert limited
to the actual period of temporary disability begin delete or entitlement to
maintenance allowance, end delete or for one year, whichever is less.

(c) This section shall not apply to periods of disability that occur
subsequent to termination of employment by resignation,
retirement, or dismissal. When this section does not apply, the
employee shall be eligible for those benefits that would apply had
this section not been enacted.

(d) The appeals board may determine, upon request of any party,
whether or not the disability referred to in this section arose out
of and in the course of duty. In any action in which a dispute exists
regarding the nature of the injury or the period of temporary
disability begin delete or entitlement to maintenance allowance, or both end delete , and
upon the request of any party thereto, the appeals board shall
determine when the disability commenced and ceased, and the
amount of benefits provided by this division to which the employee
is entitled during the period of this disability. The appeals board
shall have the jurisdiction to award and enforce payment of these
benefits, subject to subdivision (a) or (b), pursuant to Part 4
(commencing with Section 5300). A decision issued by the appeals
board under this section is final and binding upon the parties
subject to the rights of appeal contained in Chapter 7 (commencing
with Section 5900) of Part 4.

(e) Except as provided in subdivision (g), this section shall apply
for periods of disability commencing on or after January 1, 1995.

(f) This section does not apply to peace officers designated
under subdivision (a) of Section 2250.1 of the Vehicle Code.

(g) Peace officers of the California State Police Division who
become sworn members of the Department of the California
Highway Patrol as a result of the Governor’s Reorganization Plan
No. 1 of 1995, other than those officers described in subdivision
(f), shall be eligible for injury benefits accruing to sworn members
of the Department of the California Highway Patrol under this
division only for injuries occurring on or after July 12, 1995.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 4850 of the end insert begin insert Labor Code end insert begin insert is amended to read: end insert

4850.  

(a) Whenever any person listed in subdivision (b), who
is employed on a regular, full-time basis, and is disabled, whether
temporarily or permanently, begin delete by injury or illness end delete arising out of and
in the course of his or her duties begin insert from a single injury end insert , he or she
begin delete shall become end delete begin insert is end insert entitled, regardless of his or her period of service
with the city, county, or district, to a leave of absence while so
disabled without loss of salary in lieu of temporary disability
payments begin delete or maintenance allowance payments, if any, end delete that would
be payable under this chapter, for the period of the disability, but
not exceeding one year, or until that earlier date as he or she is
retired on permanent disability pension, and is actually receiving
disability pension payments, or advanced disability pension
payments pursuant to Section 4850.3.

(b) The persons eligible under subdivision (a) include all of the
following:

(1) City police officers.

(2) City, county, or district firefighters.

(3) Sheriffs.

(4) Officers or employees of any sheriff’s offices.

(5) Inspectors, investigators, detectives, or personnel with
comparable titles in any district attorney’s office.

(6) County probation officers, group counselors, or juvenile
services officers.

(7) Officers or employees of a probation office.

(8) Peace officers under Section 830.31 of the Penal Code
employed on a regular, full-time basis by a county of the first class.

(9) Lifeguards employed year round on a regular, full-time basis
by a county of the first class or by the City of San Diego.

(10) Airport law enforcement officers under subdivision (d) of
Section 830.33 of the Penal Code.

(11) Harbor or port police officers, wardens, or special officers
of a harbor or port district or city or county harbor department
under subdivision (a) of Section 830.1 or subdivision (b) of Section
830.33 of the Penal Code.

(12) Police officers of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

(c) This section shall apply only to persons listed in subdivision
(b) who meet the requirements of subdivision (a), and shall not
include any of the following:

(1) Employees of a police department whose principal duties
are those of a telephone operator, clerk, stenographer, machinist,
mechanic, or otherwise, and whose functions do not clearly fall
within the scope of active law enforcement service.

(2) Employees of a county sheriff’s office whose principal duties
are those of a telephone operator, clerk, stenographer, machinist,
mechanic, or otherwise, and whose functions do not clearly come
within the scope of active law enforcement service.

(3) Employees of a county probation office whose principal
duties are those of a telephone operator, clerk, stenographer,
machinist, mechanic, or otherwise, and whose functions do not
clearly come within the scope of active law enforcement service.

(4) Employees of a city fire department, county fire department,
or fire district whose principal duties are those of a telephone
operator, clerk, stenographer, machinist, mechanic, or otherwise,
and whose functions do not clearly fall within the scope of active
firefighting and prevention service.

(d) If the employer is insured, the payments that, except for this
section, the insurer would be obligated to make as disability
indemnity to the injured, the insurer may pay to the insured.

(e)  begin delete No end delete begin insert A end insert leave of absence taken pursuant to this section by a
peace officer, as defined by Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section
830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, or by a city, county,
or district firefighter, begin delete shall be deemed to end delete begin insert does not end insert constitute family
care and medical leave, as defined in Section 12945.2 of the
Government Code, or begin delete to end delete reduce the time authorized for family care
and medical leave by Section 12945.2 of the Government Code.

(f) This section shall not apply to any persons described in
paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (b) who are employees of the
City and County of San Francisco.

(g)  Amendments to subdivision (f) made by begin delete the act adding this
subdivision end delete begin insert Chapter 74 of the Statutes of 2010 end insert shall be applied
retroactively to January 1, 2010.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 1771 of the Labor Code is amended to read:

1771.  

(a) Except for public works projects of one thousand
dollars ($1,000) or less, not less than the general prevailing rate
of per diem wages for work of a similar character in the locality
in which the public work is performed, and not less than the general
prevailing rate of per diem wages for holiday and overtime work
fixed as provided in this chapter, shall be paid to all workers
employed on public works.

(b) This section is applicable only to work performed under
contract, and is not applicable to work carried out by a public
agency with its own forces.

(c) This section is applicable to contracts let for maintenance
work.

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