AB 1749: Workers’ compensation: off-duty peace officer.

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 workers compensation proceedings to commence within one year of specified dates and circumstances, including, among others, the date of injury.

Existing law provides that whenever any peace officer, as defined, is injured, dies, or is disabled from performing his or her duties as a peace officer by reason of engaging in the apprehension or attempted apprehension of law violators or suspected law violators, or protection or preservation of life or property, or the preservation of the peace anywhere in this state, including the local jurisdiction in which he or she is employed, but is not at the time acting under the immediate direction of his or her employer, the peace officer or his or her dependents, as the case may be, shall be accorded by his or her employer all of the same benefits, including the benefits that the peace officer or his or her dependents would have received had that peace officer been acting under the immediate direction of his or her employer. Existing law provides that any injury, disability, or death incurred under the circumstances described in this section shall be deemed to have arisen out of and been sustained in the course of employment for purposes of workers compensation and all other benefits.

This bill would state that an employer, at its discretion or in accordance with specified policies, is not precluded from accepting liability for compensation for an injury sustained by a peace officer by reason of engaging in the apprehension or attempted apprehension of law violators or suspected law violators, or protection or preservation of life or property, or the preservation of the peace, outside the state of California, but who was not at the time acting under the immediate direction of his or her employer, including any claims for injuries sustained by peace officers during the October 1, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, if the employer determines providing compensation serves its public purposes. The bill, for purposes of workers compensation claims filed for injuries sustained during the October 1, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, would deem the date of injury as the operative date of these provisions. The bill would provide that acceptance of liability shall not affect the determination of whether or not the peace officer acted within the scope of his or her employment for any other purpose.