Bill Text: CA AB2123 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Workers' compensation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-19 - From printer. May be heard in committee March 21. [AB2123 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB2123-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2123 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Smyth
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
An act to amend Section 4660 of the Labor Code, relating to
workers' compensation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2123, as introduced, Smyth. Workers' compensation.
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 employment. Existing law requires the
administrative director to formulate a rating schedule for
determining the percentage of an injured employee's permanent
disability.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to those
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4660 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
4660. (a) In determining the percentages of permanent disability,
account shall be taken of the nature of the physical injury or
disfigurement, the occupation of the injured employee, and his or her
age at the time of the injury, consideration being given to an
employee's diminished future earning capacity.
(b) (1) For purposes of this section, the "nature of the physical
injury or disfigurement" shall incorporate the descriptions and
measurements of physical impairments and the corresponding
percentages of impairments published in the American Medical
Association (AMA) Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment
(5th Edition).
(2) For purposes of this section, an employee's diminished future
earning capacity shall be a numeric formula based on empirical data
and findings that aggregate the average percentage of long-term loss
of income resulting from each type of injury for similarly situated
employees. The administrative director shall formulate the adjusted
rating schedule based on empirical data and findings from the
Evaluation of California's Permanent Disability Rating Schedule,
Interim Report (December 2003), prepared by the RAND Institute for
Civil Justice, and upon data from additional empirical studies.
(c) The administrative director shall amend the schedule for the
determination of the percentage of permanent disability in accordance
with this section at least once every five years. This schedule
shall be available for public inspection and, without formal
introduction in evidence, shall be prima facie evidence of the
percentage of permanent disability to be attributed to each injury
covered by the schedule.
(d) The schedule shall promote consistency, uniformity, and
objectivity. The schedule and any amendment thereto or revision
thereof shall apply prospectively and shall apply to and govern only
those permanent disabilities that result from compensable injuries
received or occurring on and after the effective date of the adoption
of the schedule, amendment or revision, as the fact may be. For
compensable claims arising before January 1, 2005, the schedule as
revised pursuant to changes made in legislation enacted during the
2003-04 Regular and Extraordinary Sessions shall apply to the
determination of permanent disabilities when there has been either no
comprehensive medical-legal report or no report by a treating
physician indicating the existence of permanent disability, or when
the employer is not required to provide the notice required by
Section 4061 to the injured worker.
(e) On or before January 1, 2005, the administrative director
shall adopt regulations to implement the changes made to this section
by the act that added this subdivision
Chapter 34 of the Statutes of 2004 .
