Now that the 2024 California legislative session is over, what did we learn this year about workers’ comp at the capitol? What follows are some takeaways and reference to some of the bills that were passed and others that died.
Applicant attorneys and labor advocates received legislative support for some of their proposals. But the employer/insurer coalition continues to be powerful, so most applicant-side workers’ comp efforts were rebuffed in 2024.
Bills passed by the legislature but vetoed by Governor Newsom included the following:
• SB 1299 (Cortese) a bill to create a rebuttable industrial injury presumption for agricultural workers who develop or manifest a heat illness injury working outdoors where the agricultural employer failed to comply with existing heat standards
• SB 1058 (Ashby) a bill to allow certain park rangers to draw Labor Code §4850 salary continuation benefits
• SB 636 (Cortese) a bill that would have required that beginning 7/1/2026, for private employers, only a physician licensed pursuant to California law could modify or deny requests for authorization of workers’ compensation treatment
Other workers’ comp related bills that died before reaching Newsom’s desk included:
• SB 1346 (Durazo) (where a UR denial was overturned by IMR, would have excluded that period of time from the 104 week TD cap)
• AB 3106 (Schiavo) (would have required school employers to pay COVID-19 positive employees to stay home per certain RTW guidelines)
• SB 1205 (Laird) (originally a bill to require employers to provide TD to workers who missed time from work to attend medical appointments, later amended to provide that an employer’s denial of an employee request to attend scheduled treatment during work hours be deemed a Labor Code §132A violation)
CAAA did have one victory, albeit a small one. The Governor did sign AB 1870 (Ortega) which adds to language that must be posted at job sites. Effective 1/1/25 the poster must include language in English and Spanish informing employees of their rights to consult a workers’ compensation attorney. This bill sends an important message and thus was worthwhile, though there is little evidence that many workers actually consult the posters to learn of their rights.
Other bills that passed and were signed into law are bills that addressed particular needs in the comp system. Those include the following:
• AB 2337 (Dixon) authorizes the use of electronic signatures on workers’ compensation documents
• AB 171 (Assembly Budget Committee) a trailer bill that modifies the time frame for a petition for reconsideration to be denied if not acted on from 60 days from the filing date, changing that to 60 days from the date a trial judge transmits the case to the WCAB
• SB 1455 (Ashby) delays til 1/1/28 a requirement that all contractors have workers’ comp insurance unless they can prove they had no employees, and delays requirement for Contractors State Licensing Board to implement a verification process
• AB 1239 (Calderon) extends a sunset date on a pilot program to allow clams administrators to use debit cards to pay indemnity benefits
Labor did have more success with bills that address particular industry-specific situations. Those include the following:
• AB 2754 (Rendon) amends LC §2810 and §2810.4 to expand joint liability provisions for misclassifying employees as independent contractors to port drayage carriers and their client employers that use contracted labor
• AB 977 (Rodriguez) makes assault and battery against a hospital ER healthcare providers a crime
• AB 1843 (Rodriguez) requires ambulance employers to provide peer representative emotional support on request
• AB 1976 (Haney) requires that Cal/OSHA draft requirements that workplace first aid kits include naloxone opioid antagonists
• AB 2975 (Gipson) requires Cal/OSHA develop workplace violence prevention standards to include a weapons screening policy
• AB 2499 (Schiavo) prohibits discharge, discrimination or retaliation against victims of violence or family members of victims, and addresses paid sick days entitlements
• SB 1105 (Padilla) allows outdoor agricultural workers to use paid sick leave to avoid smoke, heat or flooding declared as a local or state emergency, and prohibits discrimination for claiming such leave
Stay tuned.
Julius Young
https://www.boxerlaw.com/attorney/julius-o-young/
510.835.8870