Bill Text: CA AB615 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Workers' compensation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-02 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB615 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB615-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 615 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Niello
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
An act to amend Section 5401 of the Labor Code, relating to
workers' compensation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 615, as amended, Niello. 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 his or her employment.
Existing law requires an employer to provide a claim form and a
notice of potential eligibility for workers' compensation benefits
within one working day of receiving notice or knowledge of an
employee's injury that results in lost time beyond the employee's
work shift at the time of injury or that results in medical treatment
beyond first aid. First aid is defined to mean any one-time
treatment, and any followup visit, for the purpose of observation of
minor industrial injuries that do not ordinarily require medical
care.
This bill would instead require the employer to provide a claim
form and a notice of potential eligibility if the injury results in
death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another
job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness, or
if the injury involves a significant injury or illness, as diagnosed
by a physician or other licensed health care professional, that does
not result in death, days away from work, restricted work or
transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss
of consciousness.
It
This bill would delete the above-described definition
of first aid in existing law and would authorize the administrative
director to adopt regulations to define various terms, as specified.
Until these regulations are adopted, the bill would define
various terms, including medical treatment and first
aid, in the bill aid .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to clarify and
streamline regulatory requirements of the workers' compensation
system by coordinating the requirements under workers' compensation
law for an employer to provide a claim form with the requirements
under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (P.L.
91-596) for an employer to maintain records of occupational injuries
and illnesses.
SEC. 2. Section 5401 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
5401. (a) Within one working day of receiving notice or knowledge
of injury under Section 5400 or 5402, if the injury results
in death, days away from work, restricted work, transfer to another
job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness, or
if the injury involves a significant injury or illness, as diagnosed
by a physician or other licensed health care professional, that does
not result in death, days away from work, restricted work, transfer
to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of
consciousness, the employer shall provide, which
injury results in lost time beyond the employee's work shift at the
time of injury or which results in medical treatment beyond first
aid, the employer shall provide, personally or by first-class
mail, a claim form and a notice of potential eligibility for benefits
under this division to the injured employee, or in the case of
death, to his or her dependents. The claim form shall request the
injured employee's name and address, social security number, the time
and address where the injury occurred, and the nature of and part of
the body affected by the injury. Claim forms shall be available at
district offices of the Employment Development Department and the
division. Claim forms may be made available to the employee from any
other source.
(b) Insofar as practicable, the notice of potential eligibility
for benefits required by this section and the claim form shall be a
single document and shall instruct the injured employee to fully read
the notice of potential eligibility. The form and content of the
notice and claim form shall be prescribed by the administrative
director after consultation with the Commission on Health and Safety
and Workers' Compensation. The notice shall be easily understandable
and available in both English and Spanish. The content shall include,
but not be limited to, the following:
(1) The procedure to be used to commence proceedings for the
collection of compensation for the purposes of this chapter.
(2) A description of the different types of workers' compensation
benefits.
(3) What happens to the claim form after it is filed.
(4) From whom the employee can obtain medical care for the injury.
(5) The role and function of the primary treating physician.
(6) The rights of an employee to select and change the treating
physician pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 3550 and Section
4600.
(7) How to get medical care while the claim is pending.
(8) The protections against discrimination provided pursuant to
Section 132a.
(9) The following written statements:
(A) You have a right to disagree with decisions affecting your
claim.
(B) You can obtain free information from an information and
assistance officer of the state Division of Workers' Compensation, or
you can hear recorded information and a list of local offices by
calling [applicable information and assistance telephone number(s)].
(C) You can consult an attorney. Most attorneys offer one free
consultation. If you decide to hire an attorney, his or her fee will
be taken out of some of your benefits. For names of workers'
compensation attorneys, call the State Bar of California at
[telephone number of the State Bar of California's legal
specialization program, or its equivalent].
(c) The completed claim form shall be filed with the employer by
the injured employee, or, in the case of death, by a dependent of the
injured employee, or by an agent of the employee or dependent.
Except as provided in subdivision (d), a claim form is deemed filed
when it is personally delivered to the employer or received by the
employer by first-class or certified mail. A dated copy of the
completed form shall be provided by the employer to the employer's
insurer and to the employee, dependent, or agent who filed the claim
form.
(d) The claim form shall be filed with the employer prior to the
injured employee's entitlement to late payment supplements under
subdivision (d) of Section 4650, or prior to the injured employee's
request for a medical evaluation under Section 4060, 4061, or 4062.
Filing of the claim form with the employer shall toll, for injuries
occurring on or after January 1, 1994, the time limitations set forth
in Sections 5405 and 5406 until the claim is denied by the employer
or the injury becomes presumptively compensable pursuant to Section
5402. For purposes of this subdivision, a claim form is deemed filed
when it is personally delivered to the employer or mailed to the
employer by first-class or certified mail.
(e) The administrative director may adopt regulations that
reasonably define the terms in subdivision (a) if those definitions
would be consistent with the definitions in
adopted pursuant to Section 6410 and the definitions
in the recordkeeping regulations adopted pursuant to the federal
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-596). Until the
administrative director adopts these regulations, the following
definitions shall apply for purposes of subdivision (a):
(1) "Medical treatment" means the management and care of a patient
to combat disease or disorder, except that it does not
include any of the following:
(A) Visits to a physician or other licensed health care
professional solely for observation or counseling
counseling, unless it is for observation of serious exposure to
a hazardous substance as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 6302
.
(B) The conduct of diagnostic procedures, such as X-rays and blood
tests, including the administration of prescription medications used
solely for diagnostic purposes, such as eye drops to dilate the
pupils.
(C) "First aid".
(2) (A) "First aid" means any of the
following:
(A)
(i) Using a nonprescription medication at
nonprescription strength. For medications available in both
prescription and nonprescription form, a recommendation by a
physician or other licensed health care professional to use a
nonprescription medication at prescription strength shall be
considered medical treatment.
(B)
(ii) Administering tetanus immunizations. Other
immunizations, such as a hepatitis B vaccine or rabies vaccine, shall
be considered medical treatment.
(C)
(iii) Cleaning, flushing, or soaking wounds on the
surface of the skin.
(D)
(iv) Using wound coverings such as bandages, gauze
pads, or butterfly bandages. Other wound closing devices, such as
sutures staples, shall be considered medical treatment.
(E)
(v) Using hot or cold therapy.
(F)
(vi) Using any nonrigid means of support, such as
elastic bandages, wraps, and nonrigid back belts. Devices with rigid
stays or other systems designed to immobilize parts of the body shall
be considered medical treatment.
(G)
(vii) Using temporary immobilization devices while
transporting an accident victim, such as splints, slings, neck
collars, or backboards.
(H)
(viii) Drilling of a fingernail or toenail to relieve
pressure, or draining fluid from a blister.
(I)
(ix) Using eye patches.
(J)
(x) Removing foreign bodies from the eye using only
irrigation or a cotton swab.
(K)
(xi) Removing splinters or foreign material from areas
other than the eye by irrigation, tweezers, cotton swabs, or other
simple means.
(L)
(xii) Using finger guards.
(M)
(xiii) Using massages. Physical therapy or chiropractic
treatment shall be considered medical treatment.
(N)
(xiv) Drinking fluids for relief of heat stress.
(3) "Restricted work" means either (A) the employer, as the result
of a work-related injury or illness, keeps the employee from
performing one or more routine functions of his or her job, or from
working the full work day that he or she would otherwise have been
scheduled to work or (B) a physician and surgeon or other licensed
health care professional recommends that the employee not perform one
or more of the routine functions of his or her job, or not work the
full workday that he or she would otherwise have been scheduled to
work.
(4) "Significant injury or illness that does not result in death,
days away from work, restricted work for job transfer, medical
treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness" means
work-related injuries involving cancer, chronic irreversible disease,
a fractured or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum, and some
significant progressive diseases, such as byssinosis, silicosis, and
some types of cancer, for which medical treatment or work
restrictions may not be recommended at the time of diagnosis but are
likely to be recommended as the disease progresses.
(B) "First aid" shall not include any treatment resulting from
serious exposure to a hazardous substance as defined in subdivision
(i) of Section 6302.
