GOVERNOR'S VETO

GV Bill Id:AB 346

Author:(Cooper)

As Enrolled Ver:September 9, 2019

2/3 vote

SUMMARY:

Would have grant "4850 time" benefits to police officers employed by a school district, county office of education, or community college district.

Governor's Veto Message:

The bill would add police officers employed by a local school district, county office of education, or community college district to the list of public employees entitled to Labor Code section 4850 temporary disability benefits.

While I appreciate the Legislature's intent, and do not take lightly the important public service provided by police officers in education settings, this bill would significantly expand 4850 benefits that can be negotiated locally through the collective bargaining process. Many local school districts face financial stress, and the addition of a well-intentioned but costly benefit should be left to local entities that are struggling to balance their priorities.

COMMENTS:

According to the Author:

According to the author, school peace officers face the same inherent dangers as other safety officers, and should receive the same benefits. In particular, the author notes that school district police officers employed by the Los Angeles Unified School District already receive this benefit. The author notes that in 2014, there were an estimated 700 peace officers employed by school districts and community college districts, and that 410 of these worked for Los Angeles Unified. Thus, approximately 60% of school police officers already have this benefit.

Arguments in Support:

Supporters argue they are the same as other peace officers who already receive this benefit, and as a consequence, should themselves receive the same benefit.

Arguments in Opposition:

Because these benefits are paid due to disability, they are not subject to either state or federal taxes. This applies to regular temporary disability (TD) benefits, and to 4850 benefits. Because of the tax-free status of this benefit, a public safety officer takes home substantially more in weekly benefits than they normally earn while working – i.e., normal take home pay plus what would have been paid in taxes. Public employers have long complained that this creates a disincentive in getting injured public safety officers to return to work, even if they are able, due to the financial loss they would suffer when they return. Public employers also complain that they face higher overtime costs because they cannot fill a position of an officer who is taking 4850 time, but they still have shifts to cover. The extent of the return to work disincentive may be unclear with respect to these particular employees, but factually, they make more money while off duty on 4850 time than when they return to work.

Opponents also strongly argue that public employees, especially public safety officers, have a broad range of employee benefits, and many employees seeking additional benefits through this bill already have a better benefit package than most employees.

Background. The goal of TD is to approximate an employee's take home pay during the period after injury when the employee is temporarily unable to work. This goal is implemented by basing the weekly TD benefit on 2/3 of the employee's average weekly wages. Because there is a cap, employees who make more than approximately $1800 per week do not reach this 2/3 goal, but because the benefit is tax free, most employees receive an adequate TD benefit while they are recovering. Some safety officer organizations have collectively bargained to eliminate this benefit cap so that higher paid safety officers receive their full normal take home pay, but not more than that pay.

Public safety officers (most police, sheriff, and firefighter employees) receive certain special workers' compensation benefits that other employees do not receive. Most notably, this class of employee has the benefit of a range of "presumptions" that certain illnesses or injuries are automatically deemed to be work related. All other employees are required to prove that their condition is work related. The second significant special workers' compensation benefit is granted by Labor Code Section 4850 – commonly referred to as "4850 time" – and this law grants defined employees up to one year of full salary in lieu of the regular method for calculating TD benefits. The author asserts that these school police officers are sufficiently like other peace officers as to justify awarding them the special disability leave benefits.

FISCAL COMMENTS:

Undetermined

VOTES:

ASM INSURANCE: 14-0-0

YES: Daly, Mayes, Berman, Bigelow, Calderon, Chen, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Frazier, Gipson, Grayson, Kamlager-Dove, Voepel

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0-5

YES: Aguiar-Curry, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Obernolte, Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

ABS, ABST OR NV: Arambula, Chen, Gallagher, Maienschein, Weber

SENATE FLOOR: 39-0-1

YES: Allen, Archuleta, Atkins, Bates, Beall, Borgeas, Bradford, Caballero, Chang, Dahle, Dodd, Durazo, Galgiani, Glazer, Lena Gonzalez, Grove, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Hurtado, Jackson, Jones, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Stern, Stone, Umberg, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

ABS, ABST OR NV: Moorlach

UPDATED:

VERSION: September 9, 2019

CONSULTANT: Mark Rakich / INS. / (916) 319-2086 FN: 0002555

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 346

Author: Cooper (D)

Introduced: 2/4/19

Vote: 21

SENATE LABOR, PUB. EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/12/19

AYES: Hill, Morrell, Jackson, Mitchell, Pan

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-0, 8/30/19

AYES: Portantino, Bradford, Durazo, Hill, Jones, Wieckowski

NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 4/29/19 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: Workers’ compensation: leaves of absence

SOURCE: California School Employees Association

DIGEST:

This bill expands current law to allow Police officers employed by a school district, county office of education, or community college district to take fully paid leaves of absence due to occupational injury.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Establishes a workers’ compensation system that provides benefits to an employee who suffers from an injury or illness that arises out of and in the course of employment, irrespective of fault. This system requires all employers to secure payment of benefits by either securing the consent of the Department of Industrial Relations to self-insure or by securing insurance against liability from an insurance company duly authorized by the state. (Labor Code §3600)
2. Establishes within the Workers’ Compensation system temporary disability (TD) benefits which offer wage replacement equal to two-thirds of an injured employee’s average weekly wages for up to 104 weeks while an employee is temporarily unable to work due to a workplace illness or injury. (Labor Code §§4650-4660)
3. Establishes a minimum and a maximum amount that an employee may receive, which is adjusted annually to reflect rising wage levels. Currently, the minimum benefit is $182 per week, and the maximum benefit is $1215. (Labor Code §§4650-4660)
4. Entitles specified peace officers to enhanced TD leave, which consists of up to one year of fully paid leave if they are disabled temporarily or permanently by an injury or illness arising out of and in the course of their duties, paid for out of the Workers’ Compensation Fund. These employees include:
   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 listed under Section 830.31 of the Penal Code.
   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 as defined in 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.
   12. Police officers of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

(Labor Code §4850)

This bill expands access to fully-paid leave under Labor Code Section 4850 to police officers employed by a school district, county office of education, or community college district.

Background

1. Delivery of Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Any discussion on the expansion of Workers’ Compensation benefits should begin with the understanding that the Workers’ Compensation system faces a relatively high degree of frictional costs. A significant proportion of every dollar spent to deliver benefits goes to cover frictional costs. According to a 2018 report by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California, California ranked the second highest in the country in terms of Unallocated Loss Expenses within the Workers’ Comp system. Furthermore, employee unions are able to negotiate for 4850-like leave benefits through the collective bargaining process. Negotiating for these benefits would not require utilization of Workers’ Compensation, which could be less costly for those involved.

Workers’ compensation has always been based on a compromise that employers would foot the cost of treatment for their injured employees in exchange for certain fraud and legal protections. Private companies have the ability to raise the prices of the goods or services they provide in order to cover additional comp costs; however, this bill solely affects public employers, who have very little recourse to raise additional funds. Additional Workers’ Compensation expenses require additional resources to be allocated by local governments. Mandating enhanced Workers’ Compensation benefits could therefore come at the cost of other local projects and priorities.

1. Temporary Disability Benefits

4850 leave is an enhanced version of TD benefits, discussed above. The goal of TD is to approximate an employee's take home pay during the period after injury when the employee is temporarily unable to work for up to 104 weeks. This is accomplished by basing the weekly TD benefit on two-thirds of the employee's average weekly wages. Because there is a cap, employees who make more than approximately $1800 per week do not reach this two-thirds goal, but because the benefit is tax free, most employees receive TD benefits roughly equivalent to their regular salaries while they are recovering. 4850 leave allows a peace officer to have full wage replacement for the first year of TD eligibility, state and federal taxfree. It is important to remember that the quality of and access to healthcare does not differ between these types of leave; the principal difference is the amount of wage replacement, which is a higher percentage under 4850 leave.

1. Special Public Safety Benefits

As noted in the analysis by the Assembly Insurance Committee, “Public safety officers (most police, sheriff, and firefighter employees) receive certain special workers' compensation benefits that other employees do not receive. Most notably, this class of employee has the benefit of a range of ‘presumptions’ that certain illnesses or injuries are automatically deemed to be work related. All other employees are required to prove that their condition is work related. The second significant special workers' compensation benefit is granted by Labor Code Section 4850 – commonly referred to as ‘4850 time’ – and this law grants defined employees up to one year of full salary in lieu of the regular method for calculating TD benefits.”

On one hand, benefits like enhanced TD have an important role in statute to affirm the state’s commitment to caring for law enforcement personnel who have sacrificed their wellbeing in the course of their jobs. On the other hand the existence of these enhanced benefits creates, in essence, a second workers’ compensation system for a very specific class of workers.

Comments

Need for this bill? According to the Author: “School peace officers encounter the same inherent dangers as other safety officers. They respond to incidents involving gun violence, physical altercations, and other threats. Peace officers that serve school campuses receive the same training and meet the same requirements as other peace officers and are expected to intervene during emergencies to protect students and staff. They deserve the comfort of knowing that if they are injured on duty, they will receive the same disability benefit as other school police officers.”

Related/Prior Legislation

SB 1234 (Block, 2014) would have broadened 4850 time eligibility to include any deputy sheriff employed in a custodial assignment, a marshal or deputy marshal of a superior court or county, certain park rangers designated by a local agency, and members of a California Community College police force. The bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 2081 (Alarcon, Chapter 929, Statutes of 2000) added the Los Angeles Unified School District school police officers to Labor Code Section 4850.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill would result in an increase in workers’ compensation costs for state employees who are employed in K-12 and community college classifications/entities affected by this bill. The amount of the increase is unknown, but could exceed $50,000 annually.

SUPPORT: (Verified 8/29/19)

California School Employees Association (source)

Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs’

California Fraternal Order of Police

California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United

California Professional Firefighters

California Teachers Association

California Teamsters Public Affairs Council

Long Beach Police Officers Association

National Peace Officers and Fire Fighters Benefit Association

Peace Officers’ Research Association of California

Riverside Sheriffs’ Association

Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Association

OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/29/19)

Association of California School Administrators

California Association of Joint Powers Authorities

California Association of School Business Officials

California Coalition on Workers Compensation

CSAC Excess Insurance Authority

School Services of California

Schools Excess Liability Fund

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the sponsor, the California School Employees Association, “School officers complete the same training, meet the same qualifications and put their lives on the line to protect and serve our students and school staff. They respond to school shootings, incidents of gun violence, physical altercations and other threats to school children and school employees. But, under current law, the only school police officers eligible for this workers’ compensation benefit are police officers of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).”

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: A coalition of city and county employers write in opposition:

“Our coalition opposes this expansion salary continuation benefits as proposed by AB 346 because no objective evidence has been offered to demonstrate that this enhanced benefit is necessary and there has been no evaluation of the cost to our members. Local agencies typically fund workers’ compensation costs out of their general fund, and every dollar spent on special enhanced benefits must come from somewhere.”

Opponents further cite data that indicates that, for a specific Joint Powers Authority, Workers’ Compensation claims that are eligible for 4850 leave constitute 62% of total claims and 83% of the total cost to administer all claims.

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 4/29/19

AYES: Aguiar-Curry, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Chen, Gallagher, Maienschein, Weber

Prepared by: Jake Ferrera / L., P.E. & R. / (916) 651-1556

9/1/19 11:05:33

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular Session

AB 346 (Cooper) - Workers’ compensation: leaves of absence

Bill Summary:

AB 346 would expand current law to allow police officers employed by a school district, county office of education, or community college district to take fully paid leaves of absence due to occupational injury.

Fiscal Impact:

This bill would result in an increase in workers’ compensation costs for state employees who are employed in K-12 and community college classifications/entities affected by the bill. The amount of the increase is unknown, but could exceed $50,000 annually (General Fund, see Staff Comments).

Background:

Current law establishes a workers’ compensation system that provides benefits to an employee who suffers from an injury or illness that arises out of and in the course of employment, irrespective of fault. Generally speaking, under current law an injured worker who is unable to work is entitled to two years of temporary disability benefits. These benefits are designed to partially offset the loss of wages for workers unable to work in the aftermath of an injury. The benefit amount is 67 percent of a worker’s average weekly wage during the past 12 months. The benefit is adjusted annually for inflation; and currently ranges between $182 and $1,215 per week.

Labor Code Section 4850 provides specified categories of peace officers with a higher wage loss benefit. An eligible public safety officer who becomes disabled while performing his or her duties is entitled to a one-year leave of absence without loss of salary in lieu of temporary disability payments. These employees include:

• City police officers.
• City, county, or district firefighters.
• Sheriffs.
• Inspectors, investigators, detectives, or personnel with comparable titles in any district attorney's office.
• County probation officers, group counselors, or juvenile services officers.
• Lifeguards employed by a county of the first class or the City of San Diego.
• Airport law enforcement officers.
• Harbor or port police officers, wardens, or special officers of a harbor or port district or city or county harbor department.
• Police officers of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Proposed Law:

This bill would expand access to fully-paid leave under Labor Code Section 4850 to police officers employed by a school district, county office of education, or community college district.

Related Legislation:

• SB 2081 (Alarcon, Chapter 929, Statutes of 2000) added LAUSD school police officers to Labor Code Section 4850.
• SB 1234 (Block, 2014) would have broadened Section 4850 time eligibility to include any deputy sheriff employed in a custodial assignment, a marshal or deputy marshal of a superior court or county, certain park rangers designated by a local agency, and members of a California Community College police force. The bill was held under submission on the Suspense File of this Committee.

Staff Comments:

The Office of the Legislative Counsel has keyed this bill “non-fiscal.” However, the purview of this Committee, pursuant to Joint Rule 10.5, is to review and analyze bills that would, among other things, result in a substantial expenditure of state money. Thus, even though this bill was keyed “non-fiscal,” the Committee requested referral to examine the extent to which it might potentially increase state costs.

Under current Appropriations Committee rules, bills are referred to its Suspense File if they increase costs for any state fund, in any fiscal year, by specified thresholds. Currently, those thresholds are $50,000 for the General Fund, and $150,000 for most other state funds.

Current data indicate that 34 community college districts and 14 K-12 districts have police departments that would be covered by this bill; thus, the number of additional police officers subject to Section 4850 benefits would likely be in the hundreds. To the extent that these officers were to utilize the expanded benefits under this bill, upfront costs to these districts would increase, creating a new cost pressure on their existing and future budget allocations (primarily General Fund). The extent of the increase is unknown, but could exceed $50,000 annually.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR, PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT

Senator Jerry Hill, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular

Bill No: AB 346 Hearing Date: June 12, 2019

SUBJECT: Workers’ compensation: leaves of absence

KEY ISSUE

Should the Legislature expand current law to allow Police officers employed by a school district, county office of education, or community college district to take fully paid leaves of absence due to occupational injury?

ANALYSIS

Existing law:

1. Establishes a workers’ compensation system that provides benefits to an employee who suffers from an injury or illness that arises out of and in the course of employment, irrespective of fault. This system requires all employers to secure payment of benefits by either securing the consent of the Department of Industrial Relations to self-insure or by securing insurance against liability from an insurance company duly authorized by the state. (Labor Code §3600)
2. Establishes within the Workers’ Compensation system temporary disability benefits (TD) which offer wage replacement equal to 2/3 of an injured employee’s average weekly wages for up to 104 weeks while an employee is temporarily unable to work due to a workplace illness or injury. (Labor Code §§4650-4660)
3. Establishes a minimum and a maximum amount that an employee may receive, which is adjusted annually to reflect rising wage levels. Currently, the minimum benefit is $182 per week, and the maximum benefit is $1215. (Labor Code §§4650-4660)
4. Entitles specified Peace Officers to enhanced Temporary Disability leave, which consists of up to 1 year of fully paid leave if they are disabled temporarily or permanently by an injury or illness arising out of and in the course of their duties, paid for out of the Workers’ Compensation Fund. These employees include:
5. City police officers.
6. City, county, or district firefighters.
7. Sheriffs.
8. Officers or employees of any sheriff’s offices.
9. Inspectors, investigators, detectives, or personnel with comparable titles in any district attorney’s office.
10.  County probation officers, group counselors, or juvenile services officers.
11. Officers or employees of a probation office.
12. Peace officers listed under Section 830.31 of the Penal Code.
13. Lifeguards employed year round on a regular, full-time basis by a county of the first class or by the City of San Diego.
14. Airport law enforcement officers as defined in Section 830.33 of the Penal Code.
15. Harbor or port police officers, wardens, or special officers of a harbor or port district or city or county harbor department.
16. Police officers of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

(Labor Code §4850)

This bill:

1. Expands access to fully-paid leave under Labor Code Section 4850 to police officers employed by a school district, county office of education, or community college district.

COMMENTS

1. Need for this bill?

According to the Author:

“School peace officers encounter the same inherent dangers as other safety officers. They respond to incidents involving gun violence, physical altercations, and other threats. Peace officers that serve school campuses receive the same training and meet the same requirements as other peace officers and are expected to intervene during emergencies to protect students and staff. They deserve the comfort of knowing that if they are injured on duty, they will receive the same disability benefit as other school police officers.”

1. Background
2. Delivery of Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Any discussion on the expansion of Workers’ Compensation benefits should begin with the understanding that the Workers’ Compensation system faces a relatively high degree of frictional costs. A significant proportion of every dollar spent to deliver benefits goes to cover frictional costs. According to a 2018 report by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB), California ranked the second highest in the country in terms of Unallocated Loss Expenses within the Workers’ Comp system. Furthermore, employee unions are able to negotiate for 4850-like leave benefits through the collective bargaining process. Negotiating for these benefits would not require utilization of Workers’ Compensation, which could be less costly for those involved.

Workers’ compensation has always been based on a compromise that employers would foot the cost of treatment for their injured employees in exchange for certain fraud and legal protections. Private companies have the ability to raise the prices of the goods or services they provide in order to cover additional comp costs; however, this bill solely affects public employers, who have very little recourse to raise additional funds. Additional Workers’ Comp expenses require additional resources to be allocated by local governments. Mandating enhanced Workers’ Compensation benefits could therefore come at the cost of other local projects and priorities.

1. Temporary Disability Benefits.

4850 leave is an enhanced version of Temporary Disability (TD) Benefits, discussed above. The goal of TD is to approximate an employee's take home pay during the period after injury when the employee is temporarily unable to work for up to 104 weeks. This is accomplished by basing the weekly TD benefit on 2/3 of the employee's average weekly wages. Because there is a cap, employees who make more than approximately $1800 per week do not reach this 2/3 goal, but because the benefit is tax free, most employees receive TD benefits roughly equivalent to their regular salaries while they are recovering. 4850 leave allows a peace officer to have full wage replacement for the first year of TD eligibility, state and federal tax-free. It is important to remember that the quality of and access to healthcare does not differ between these types of leave; the principal difference is the amount of wage replacement, which is a higher percentage under 4850 leave.

1. Special Public Safety Benefits

As noted in the analysis by the Assembly Insurance Committee:

“Public safety officers (most police, sheriff, and firefighter employees) receive certain special workers' compensation benefits that other employees do not receive. Most notably, this class of employee has the benefit of a range of "presumptions" that certain illnesses or injuries are automatically deemed to be work related. All other employees are required to prove that their condition is work related. The second significant special workers' compensation benefit is granted by Labor Code Section 4850 – commonly referred to as "4850 time" – and this law grants defined employees up to one year of full salary in lieu of the regular method for calculating TD benefits.”

On one hand, benefits like enhanced TD have an important role in statute to affirm the state’s commitment to caring for law enforcement personnel who have sacrificed their wellbeing in the course of their jobs. On the other hand the existence of these enhanced benefits creates, in essence, a second workers’ compensation system for a very specific class of workers.

1. Proponent Arguments

According to the Sponsor, the California School Employees Association

“School officers complete the same training, meet the same qualifications and put their lives on the line to protect and serve our students and school staff. They respond to school shootings, incidents of gun violence, physical altercations and other threats to school children and school employees. But, under current law, the only school police officers eligible for this workers’ compensation benefit are police officers of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).”

1. Opponent Arguments:

A coalition of city and county employers write in opposition:

“Our coalition opposes this expansion salary continuation benefits as proposed by AB 346 because no objective evidence has been offered to demonstrate that this enhanced benefit is necessary and there has been no evaluation of the cost to our members. Local agencies typically fund workers’ compensation costs out of their general fund, and every dollar spent on special enhanced benefits must come from somewhere.”

Opponents further cite data that indicates that, for a specific Joint Powers Authority, Workers’ Compensation claims that are eligible for 4850 leave constitute 62% of total claims and 83% of the total cost to administer all claims.

1. Prior Legislation:

SB 2081 (Alarcon) of 2000, Chapter 929: Added LAUSD school police officers to Labor Code 4850.

SB 1234 (Block) of 2014, Held in Senate Appropriations: Would have broadened 4850 time eligibility to include any deputy sheriff employed in a custodial assignment, a marshal or deputy marshal of a superior court or county, certain park rangers designated by a local agency, and members of a California Community College police force.

SUPPORT

California School Employees Association (Sponsor)

Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs’

California Fraternal Order of Police

California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United

California Professional Firefighters

California Teachers Association

California Teamsters Public Affairs Council

Long Beach Police Officers Association

National Peace Officers and Fire Fighters Benefit Association

Peace Officers’ Research Association of California

Riverside Sheriffs’ Association

Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Association

OPPOSITION

Association of California School Administrators

California Association of Joint Powers Authorities

California Association of School Business Officials

California Coalition on Workers Compensation

CSAC Excess Insurance Authority

School Services of California

Schools Excess Liability Fund

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 346

Author:(Cooper)

As Introduced Ver:February 4, 2019

Majority vote

SUMMARY:

Grants "4850 time" benefits to police officers employed by a school district, county office of education, or community college district.

Major Provisions

COMMENTS:

Background. The goal of TD is to approximate an employee's take home pay during the period after injury when the employee is temporarily unable to work. This goal is implemented by basing the weekly TD benefit on 2/3 of the employee's average weekly wages. Because there is a cap, employees who make more than approximately $1800 per week do not reach this 2/3 goal, but because the benefit is tax free, most employees receive an adequate TD benefit while they are recovering. Some safety officer organizations have collectively bargained to eliminate this benefit cap so that higher paid safety officers receive their full normal take home pay, but not more than that pay.

Public safety officers (most police, sheriff, and firefighter employees) receive certain special workers' compensation benefits that other employees do not receive. Most notably, this class of employee has the benefit of a range of "presumptions" that certain illnesses or injuries are automatically deemed to be work related. All other employees are required to prove that their condition is work related. The second significant special workers' compensation benefit is granted by Labor Code Section 4850 – commonly referred to as "4850 time" – and this law grants defined employees up to one year of full salary in lieu of the regular method for calculating TD benefits. The author asserts that these school police officers are sufficiently like other peace officers as to justify awarding them the special disability leave benefits.

According to the Author:

According to the author, school peace officers face the same inherent dangers as other safety officers, and should receive the same benefits. In particular, the author notes that school district police officers employed by the Los Angeles Unified School District already receive this benefit. The author notes that in 2014, there were an estimated 700 peace officers employed by school districts and community college districts, and that 410 of these worked for Los Angeles Unified. Thus, approximately 60% of school police officers already have this benefit.

Arguments in Support:

Supporters argue they are the same as other peace officers who already receive this benefit, and as a consequence, should themselves receive the same benefit.

Arguments in Opposition:

Because these benefits are paid due to disability, they are not subject to either state or federal taxes. This applies to regular temporary disability (TD) benefits, and to 4850 benefits. Because of the tax-free status of this benefit, a public safety officer takes home substantially more in weekly benefits than they normally earn while working – i.e., normal take home pay plus what would have been paid in taxes. Public employers have long complained that this creates a disincentive in getting injured public safety officers to return to work, even if they are able, due to the financial loss they would suffer when they return. Public employers also complain that they face higher overtime costs because they cannot fill a position of an officer who is taking 4850 time, but they still have shifts to cover. The extent of the return to work disincentive may be unclear with respect to these particular employees, but factually, they make more money while off duty on 4850 time than when they return to work.

Opponents also strongly argue that public employees, especially public safety officers, have a broad range of employee benefits, and many employees seeking additional benefits through this bill already have a better benefit package than most employees

FISCAL COMMENTS:

Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.

VOTES:

ASM INSURANCE: 14-0-0

YES: Daly, Mayes, Berman, Bigelow, Calderon, Chen, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Frazier, Gipson, Grayson, Kamlager-Dove, Voepel

UPDATED:

VERSION: February 4, 2019

CONSULTANT: Mark Rakich / INS. / (916) 319-2086 FN: 0000260

Date of Hearing: April 24, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE

Tom Daly, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 346 (

Author:Cooper) – As Introduced Ver:February 4, 2019

SUBJECT: Workers’ compensation: “4850” time

SUMMARY: Grants “4850 time” benefits to police officers employed by a school district, county office of education, or community college district.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Provides for a comprehensive system of benefits paid by employers to employees who suffer illness or injury that arises out of, or in the course of, employment.
   
2. Includes temporary disability benefits (TD) for up to 104 weeks if an employee is temporarily unable to work during recuperation from the workplace illness or injury.
   
3. Establishes a minimum and a maximum amount that an employee may receive, which is adjusted annually to reflect rising wage levels. Currently the minimum benefit is $182 per week, and the maximum benefit is $1215. The benefit is calculated based on 2/3 of an employee's average weekly wages, subject to the maximum cap.
   
4. Provides specified public safety officers with an enhanced temporary disability benefit for up to the first year of temporary disability (commonly referred to as “4850 time”). These safety officers receive their full salary (tax free) during the first year of temporary disability.
   
5. Includes police officers of the Los Angeles Unified School District among the safety officers who are entitled to this special enhanced temporary disability benefit.
   

FISCAL EFFECT: Undetermined

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author, school peace officers face the same inherent dangers as other safety officers, and should receive the same benefits. In particular, the author notes that school district police officers employed by the Los Angeles Unified School District already receive this benefit. The author notes that in 2014, there were an estimated 700 peace officers employed by school districts and community college districts, and that 410 of these worked for Los Angeles Unified. Thus, approximately 60% of school police officers already have this benefit.
2. Collective bargaining? If a local public agency wants to grant employees certain benefits of employment, it is able to accomplish that goal without need for a statutory change. In fact, the City of Los Angeles has provided "4850-like" benefits to a range of employees without need of a statute mandating the benefit for those employees. The collective bargaining process, and not legislation, may be the better approach to enhancing the benefits of this class of employee.
   
3. Temporary disability benefits. The goal of TD is to approximate an employee's take home pay during the period after injury when the employee is temporarily unable to work. This goal is implemented by basing the weekly TD benefit on 2/3 of the employee's average weekly wages. Because there is a cap, employees who make more than approximately $1800 per week do not reach this 2/3 goal, but because the benefit is tax free, most employees receive an adequate TD benefit while they are recovering.
   
4. Special public safety benefits. Public safety officers (most police, sheriff, and firefighter employees) receive certain special workers' compensation benefits that other employees do not receive. Most notably, this class of employee has the benefit of a range of "presumptions" that certain illnesses or injuries are automatically deemed to be work related. All other employees are required to prove that their condition is work related. The second significant special workers' compensation benefit is granted by Labor Code Section 4850 – commonly referred to as "4850 time" – and this law grants defined employees up to one year of full salary in lieu of the regular method for calculating TD benefits. The author asserts that these school police officers are sufficiently like other peace officers as to justify awarding them the special disability leave benefits.
   
5. Tax advantages. Because these benefits are paid due to disability, they are not subject to either state or federal taxes. This applies to regular TD benefits, and to 4850 benefits. Because of the tax-free status of this benefit, a public safety officer takes home substantially more in weekly benefits than they normally earn while working – i.e., normal take home pay plus what would have been paid in taxes. Public employers have long complained that this creates a disincentive in getting injured public safety officers to return to work, even if they are able, due to the financial loss they would suffer when they return. Public employers also complain that they face higher overtime costs because they cannot fill a position of an officer who is taking 4850 time, but they still have shifts to cover. The extent of the return to work disincentive may be unclear with respect to these particular employees, but factually, they make more money while off duty on 4850 time than when they return to work.
   

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California School Employees Association (CSEA), AFL-CIO, Sponsor

Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS)

California Applicants Attorneys’ Association (CAAA)

California Federation of Teachers, AFT, AFL-CIO

California Labor Federation

California Professional Firefighters (CPF)

California Teachers Association

California Teamsters

Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)

Long Beach Police Officers Association (LBPOA)

Peace Officers’ Research Association of California (PORAC)

Riverside Sheriffs’ Association

Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (SCDSA)

Opposition

None received

Analysis Prepared by: Mark Rakich / INS. / (916) 319-2086