AB 699: Workers’ compensation: presumed injuries.
- Session Year: 2023-2024
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2023-09-14
Current Status:
Failed
(2024-02-01: Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file.)
Introduced
In Committee
First Chamber
In Committee
Second Chamber
Enacted
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 creates a rebuttable presumption that specified injuries, such as meningitis, tuberculosis, or hernia, sustained in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law creates a rebuttable presumption that skin cancer that develops or manifests in the course of employment of a lifeguard, as specified, arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law authorizes a lifeguard to file a claim for skin cancer after employment has terminated for a specified period based on years of employment, not to exceed 60 months.
This bill would expand presumptions for hernia, pneumonia, heart trouble, cancer, tuberculosis, bloodborne infectious disease, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, and meningitis-related illnesses and injuries to a lifeguard employed on a year-round, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The bill would increase the period of time after termination of employment that a lifeguard employed on a year-round, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department can file a claim for skin cancer. The bill would expand the presumptions for illness or injury related to post-traumatic stress disorder or exposure to biochemical substances, as defined, to a lifeguard employed in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of San Diego.
This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code proposed by SB 391 to be operative only if this bill and SB 391 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
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 creates a rebuttable presumption that specified injuries, such as meningitis, tuberculosis, or hernia, sustained in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law creates a rebuttable presumption that skin cancer that develops or manifests in the course of employment of a lifeguard, as specified, arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law authorizes a lifeguard to file a claim for skin cancer after employment has terminated for a specified period based on years of employment, not to exceed 60 months.
This bill would expand presumptions for hernia, pneumonia, heart trouble, cancer, tuberculosis, bloodborne infectious disease, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, and meningitis-related illnesses and injuries to a lifeguard employed on a year-round, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The bill would increase the period of time after termination of employment that a lifeguard employed on a year-round, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department can file a claim for skin cancer. The bill would expand the presumptions for illness or injury related to post-traumatic stress disorder or exposure to biochemical substances, as defined, to a lifeguard employed in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of San Diego.
This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code proposed by SB 391 to be operative only if this bill and SB 391 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
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 creates a rebuttable presumption that specified injuries, such as meningitis, tuberculosis, or hernia, sustained in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law creates a rebuttable presumption that skin cancer that develops or manifests in the course of employment of a lifeguard, as specified, arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law authorizes a lifeguard to file a claim for skin cancer after employment has terminated for a specified period based on years of employment, not to exceed 60 months.
This bill would expand presumptions for hernia, pneumonia, heart trouble, cancer, tuberculosis, bloodborne infectious disease, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, and meningitis-related illnesses and injuries to a lifeguard employed on a year-round, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The bill would increase the period of time after termination of employment that a lifeguard employed on a year-round, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department can file a claim for skin cancer. The bill would expand the presumptions for illness or injury related to post-traumatic stress disorder or exposure to biochemical substances, as defined, to a lifeguard employed in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of San Diego.
In the case of members of a sheriffs office or the California Highway Patrol, district attorneys staff of inspectors and investigators or of police or fire departments of cities, counties, cities and counties, districts or other public or municipal corporations or political subdivisions, whether those members are volunteer, partly paid, or fully paid, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose duties require firefighting or of any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, whether voluntary, fully paid, or partly paid, and in the case of members of the warden service of the Wildlife Protection Branch of the Department of Fish and Game whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement service such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury as used in this act includes hernia when any part of the hernia develops or manifests itself during a period while the member is in the service in the office, staff, division, department, or unit, and in the case of members of fire departments, except those whose principal duties are clerical, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of county forestry or firefighting departments, except those whose principal duties are clerical, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose duties require firefighting, and in the case of members of the warden service of the Wildlife Protection Branch of the Department of Fish and Game whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement service such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury includes pneumonia and heart trouble that develops or manifests itself during a period while the member is in the service of the office, staff, department, or unit. In the case of regular salaried county or city and county peace officers, the term injury also includes any hernia that manifests itself or develops during a period while the officer is in the service. The compensation that is awarded for the hernia, heart trouble, or pneumonia shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by the workers compensation laws of this state.
The hernia, heart trouble, or pneumonia so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it. The presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
The hernia, heart trouble, or pneumonia so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall in no case be attributed to any disease existing prior to that development or manifestation.
SEC. 2.Section 3212.1 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.1.(a)This section applies to all of the following:
(1)Active firefighting members, whether volunteers, partly paid, or fully paid, of all of the following fire departments:
(A)A fire department of a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision.
(B)A fire department of the University of California and the California State University.
(C)The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(D)A county forestry or firefighting department or unit.
(2)Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a United States Department of Defense installation and who are certified by the Department of Defense as meeting its standards for firefighters.
(3)Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a National Aeronautics and Space Administration installation and who adhere to training standards established in accordance with Article 4 (commencing with Section 13155) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 12 of the Health and Safety Code.
(4)Peace officers, as defined in Section 830.1, subdivision (a) of Section 830.2, and subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 830.37, of the Penal Code, who are primarily engaged in active law enforcement activities.
(5)(A)Fire and rescue services coordinators who work for the Office of Emergency Services.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, fire and rescue services coordinators means coordinators with any of the following job classifications: coordinator, senior coordinator, or chief coordinator.
(6)Lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
(b)The term injury, as used in this division, includes cancer, including leukemia, that develops or manifests itself during a period in which any member described in subdivision (a) is in the service of the department or unit, if the member demonstrates that the member was exposed, while in the service of the department or unit, to a known carcinogen as defined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, or as defined by the director.
(c)The compensation that is awarded for cancer shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.
(d)The cancer so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by evidence that the primary site of the cancer has been established and that the carcinogen to which the member has demonstrated exposure is not reasonably linked to the disabling cancer. Unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 120 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(e)The amendments to this section enacted during the 1999 portion of the 19992000 Regular Session shall be applied to claims for benefits filed or pending on or after January 1, 1997, including, but not limited to, claims for benefits filed on or after that date that have previously been denied, or that are being appealed following denial.
(f)This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the William Dallas Jones Cancer Presumption Act of 2010.
SEC. 3.Section 3212.17 is added to the Labor Code, immediately following 3212.15, to read:3212.17.(a)This section applies to lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
(b)The term injury, as used in this division, includes post-traumatic stress disorder, as diagnosed according to the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association and that develops or manifests itself during a period in which a lifeguard described in subdivision (a) is in the service of the department.
(c)For an injury that is diagnosed as specified in subdivision (b):
(1)The compensation that is awarded shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.
(2)The injury so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption. This presumption shall be extended to a lifeguard following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(d)Compensation shall not be paid pursuant to this section for a claim of injury unless the lifeguard has performed services for the department or unit for at least six months. The six months of employment need not be continuous. This subdivision does not apply if the injury is caused by a sudden and extraordinary employment condition.
(e)This section applies to injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2020.
(f)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 4.Section 3212.6 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.6.In the case of a member of a police department of a city or county, or a member of the sheriffs office of a county, or a member of the California Highway Patrol, or an inspector or investigator in a district attorneys office of any county whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, or a prison or jail guard or correctional officer who is employed by a public agency, when that person is employed upon a regular, full-time salary, or in the case of members of fire departments of any city, county, or district, or other public or municipal corporations or political subdivisions, when those members are employed on a regular fully paid basis, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose duties require firefighting and first-aid response services, or of any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, where those members are employed on a regular fully paid basis, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement, firefighting, or emergency first-aid response service such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury includes tuberculosis that develops or manifests itself during a period while that member is in the service of that department or office. The compensation that is awarded for the tuberculosis shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits as provided by the provisions of this division.
The tuberculosis so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
A public entity may require applicants for employment in firefighting positions who would be entitled to the benefits granted by this section to be tested for infection for tuberculosis.
SEC. 5.Section 3212.8 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.8.(a)In the case of members of a sheriffs office, of police or fire departments of cities, counties, cities and counties, districts, or other public or municipal corporations or political subdivisions, or individuals described in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, whether those persons are volunteer, partly paid, or fully paid, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or of any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, whether voluntary, fully paid, or partly paid, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement service or active firefighting services, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other office workers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury as used in this division, includes a bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection when any part of the bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection develops or manifests itself during a period while that person is in the service of that office, staff, division, department, or unit. The compensation that is awarded for a bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection shall include, but not be limited to, full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by the workers compensation laws of this state.
(b)(1)The bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment or service. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it.
(2)The bloodborne infectious disease presumption shall be extended to a person covered by subdivision (a) following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(3)Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection presumption shall be extended to a person covered by subdivision (a) following termination of service for a period of 90 days, commencing with the last day actually worked in the specified capacity.
(c)The bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall in no case be attributed to any disease or skin infection existing prior to that development or manifestation.
(d)For the purposes of this section, bloodborne infectious disease means a disease caused by exposure to pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood that can cause disease in humans, including those pathogenic microorganisms defined as bloodborne pathogens by the Department of Industrial Relations.
SEC. 6.Section 3212.85 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.85.(a)This section applies to peace officers described in Sections 830.1 to 830.5, inclusive, of the Penal Code, and members of a fire department.
(b)The term injury, as used in this division, includes illness or resulting death due to exposure to a biochemical substance that develops or occurs during a period in which any member described in subdivision (a) is in the service of the department or unit.
(c)The compensation that is awarded for injury pursuant to this section shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.
(d)The injury that develops or manifests itself in these cases shall be presumed to arise out of, and in the course of, the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence. Unless controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(e)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)Biochemical substance means any biological or chemical agent that may be used as a weapon of mass destruction, including, but not limited to, any chemical warfare agent, weaponized biological agent, or nuclear or radiological agent, as these terms are defined in Section 11417 of the Penal Code.
(2)Members of a fire department includes, but is not limited to, an apprentice, volunteer, partly paid, or fully paid member of any of the following:
(A)A fire department of a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision.
(B)A fire department of the University of California and the California State University.
(C)The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(D)A county forestry or firefighting department or unit.
(E)A lifeguard employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
SEC. 7.Section 3212.9 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.9.In the case of a member of a police department of a city, county, or city and county, or a member of the sheriffs office of a county, or a member of the California Highway Patrol, or a county probation officer, or an inspector or investigator in a district attorneys office of any county whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, when that person is employed on a regular, full-time salary, or in the case of a member of a fire department of any city, county, or district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision, or any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, when those members are employed on a regular full-time salary, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement or firefighting, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of a lifeguard employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury includes meningitis that develops or manifests itself during a period while that person is in the service of that department, office, or unit. The compensation that is awarded for the meningitis shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits as provided by the provisions of this division.
The meningitis so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a person following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
SEC. 8.Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.11.This section applies to both of the following: (a) active lifeguards employed by a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision, except lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, and (b) active state lifeguards employed by the Department of Parks and Recreation. The term injury, as used in this division, includes skin cancer that develops or manifests itself during the period of the lifeguards employment. The compensation awarded for that injury shall include full hospital, surgical, and medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by the provisions of this division.
Skin cancer so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board shall find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a lifeguard following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
Skin cancer so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall not be attributed to any disease existing prior to that development or manifestation.
This section shall only apply to lifeguards employed for more than three consecutive months in a calendar year.
SEC. 8.5.Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.11.(a)This section applies to all of the following:
(1)Active lifeguards employed by a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision, except lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
(2)Active state lifeguards employed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(3)Peace officers, as defined in subdivisions (e) and (f) of Section 830.2 of the Penal Code.
(b)The term injury, as used in this division, includes skin cancer that develops or manifests itself during the period of the lifeguards or peace officers employment. The compensation awarded for that injury shall include full hospital, surgical, and medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.
(c)Skin cancer so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board shall find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a lifeguard or peace officer following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(d)Skin cancer so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall not be attributed to any disease existing prior to that development or manifestation.
(e)Paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) shall only apply to lifeguards employed for more than three consecutive months in a calendar year.
SEC. 9.The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the work of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department requires the workers compensation presumptions provided for in the Labor Code and afforded to similarly situated public safety employees.
SEC. 10.Section 8.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code proposed by both this bill and Senate Bill 391. That section of this bill shall only become operative if (1) both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2024, (2) each bill amends Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code, and (3) this bill is enacted after Senate Bill 391, in which case Section 8 of this bill shall not become operative.
In the case of members of a sheriffs office or the California Highway Patrol, district attorneys staff of inspectors and investigators or of police or fire departments of cities, counties, cities and counties, districts or other public or municipal corporations or political subdivisions, whether those members are volunteer, partly paid, or fully paid, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose duties require firefighting or of any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, whether voluntary, fully paid, or partly paid, and in the case of members of the warden service of the Wildlife Protection Branch of the Department of Fish and Game whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement service such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury as used in this act includes hernia when any part of the hernia develops or manifests itself during a period while the member is in the service in the office, staff, division, department, or unit, and in the case of members of fire departments, except those whose principal duties are clerical, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of county forestry or firefighting departments, except those whose principal duties are clerical, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose duties require firefighting, and in the case of members of the warden service of the Wildlife Protection Branch of the Department of Fish and Game whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement service such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury includes pneumonia and heart trouble that develops or manifests itself during a period while the member is in the service of the office, staff, department, or unit. In the case of regular salaried county or city and county peace officers, the term injury also includes any hernia that manifests itself or develops during a period while the officer is in the service. The compensation that is awarded for the hernia, heart trouble, or pneumonia shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by the workers compensation laws of this state.
The hernia, heart trouble, or pneumonia so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it. The presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
The hernia, heart trouble, or pneumonia so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall in no case be attributed to any disease existing prior to that development or manifestation.
SEC. 2.Section 3212.1 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.1.(a)This section applies to all of the following:
(1)Active firefighting members, whether volunteers, partly paid, or fully paid, of all of the following fire departments:
(A)A fire department of a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision.
(B)A fire department of the University of California and the California State University.
(C)The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(D)A county forestry or firefighting department or unit.
(2)Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a United States Department of Defense installation and who are certified by the Department of Defense as meeting its standards for firefighters.
(3)Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a National Aeronautics and Space Administration installation and who adhere to training standards established in accordance with Article 4 (commencing with Section 13155) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 12 of the Health and Safety Code.
(4)Peace officers, as defined in Section 830.1, subdivision (a) of Section 830.2, and subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 830.37, of the Penal Code, who are primarily engaged in active law enforcement activities.
(5)(A)Fire and rescue services coordinators who work for the Office of Emergency Services.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, fire and rescue services coordinators means coordinators with any of the following job classifications: coordinator, senior coordinator, or chief coordinator.
(6)Lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
(b)The term injury, as used in this division, includes cancer, including leukemia, that develops or manifests itself during a period in which any member described in subdivision (a) is in the service of the department or unit, if the member demonstrates that the member was exposed, while in the service of the department or unit, to a known carcinogen as defined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, or as defined by the director.
(c)The compensation that is awarded for cancer shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.
(d)The cancer so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by evidence that the primary site of the cancer has been established and that the carcinogen to which the member has demonstrated exposure is not reasonably linked to the disabling cancer. Unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of three 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 120 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(e)The amendments to this section enacted during the 1999 portion of the 19992000 Regular Session shall be applied to claims for benefits filed or pending on or after January 1, 1997, including, but not limited to, claims for benefits filed on or after that date that have previously been denied, or that are being appealed following denial.
(f)This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the William Dallas Jones Cancer Presumption Act of 2010.
SEC. 3.Section 3212.15 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.15.(a)This section applies to all of the following:(1)Active firefighting members, whether volunteers, partly paid, or fully paid, of all of the following fire departments:(A)A fire department of a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision.(B)A fire department of the University of California and the California State University.(C)The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.(D)A county forestry or firefighting department or unit.(2)Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a United States Department of Defense installation and who are certified by the Department of Defense as meeting its standards for firefighters.(3)Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a National Aeronautics and Space Administration installation and who adhere to training standards established in accordance with Article 4 (commencing with Section 13155) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 12 of the Health and Safety Code.(4)Peace officers, as defined in Section 830.1, subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of Section 830.2, Section 830.32, subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 830.37, and Sections 830.5 and 830.55 of the Penal Code, who are primarily engaged in active law enforcement activities.(5)(A)Fire and rescue services coordinators who work for the Office of Emergency Services.(B)For purposes of this paragraph, fire and rescue services coordinators means coordinators with any of the following job classifications: coordinator, senior coordinator, or chief coordinator.(6)Lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.(b)In the case of a person described in subdivision (a), the term injury, as used in this division, includes post-traumatic stress disorder, as diagnosed according to the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association and that develops or manifests itself during a period in which any member described in subdivision (a) is in the service of the department or unit.(c)For an injury that is diagnosed as specified in subdivision (b):(1)The compensation that is awarded shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.(2)The injury so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.(d)Compensation shall not be paid pursuant to this section for a claim of injury unless the member has performed services for the department or unit for at least six months. The six months of employment need not be continuous. This subdivision does not apply if the injury is caused by a sudden and extraordinary employment condition.(e)This section applies to injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2020.(f)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.SEC. 3.Section 3212.17 is added to the Labor Code, immediately following 3212.15, to read:3212.17.(a)This section applies to lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
(b)The term injury, as used in this division, includes post-traumatic stress disorder, as diagnosed according to the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association and that develops or manifests itself during a period in which a lifeguard described in subdivision (a) is in the service of the department.
(c)For an injury that is diagnosed as specified in subdivision (b):
(1)The compensation that is awarded shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.
(2)The injury so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption. This presumption shall be extended to a lifeguard following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(d)Compensation shall not be paid pursuant to this section for a claim of injury unless the lifeguard has performed services for the department or unit for at least six months. The six months of employment need not be continuous. This subdivision does not apply if the injury is caused by a sudden and extraordinary employment condition.
(e)This section applies to injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2020.
(f)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 4.Section 3212.6 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.6.In the case of a member of a police department of a city or county, or a member of the sheriffs office of a county, or a member of the California Highway Patrol, or an inspector or investigator in a district attorneys office of any county whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, or a prison or jail guard or correctional officer who is employed by a public agency, when that person is employed upon a regular, full-time salary, or in the case of members of fire departments of any city, county, or district, or other public or municipal corporations or political subdivisions, when those members are employed on a regular fully paid basis, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose duties require firefighting and first-aid response services, or of any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, where those members are employed on a regular fully paid basis, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement, firefighting, or emergency first-aid response service such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury includes tuberculosis that develops or manifests itself during a period while that member is in the service of that department or office. The compensation that is awarded for the tuberculosis shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits as provided by the provisions of this division.
The tuberculosis so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of three 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
A public entity may require applicants for employment in firefighting positions who would be entitled to the benefits granted by this section to be tested for infection for tuberculosis.
SEC. 5.Section 3212.8 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.8.(a)In the case of members of a sheriffs office, of police or fire departments of cities, counties, cities and counties, districts, or other public or municipal corporations or political subdivisions, or individuals described in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, whether those persons are volunteer, partly paid, or fully paid, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or of any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, whether voluntary, fully paid, or partly paid, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement service or active firefighting services, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other office workers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury as used in this division, includes a bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection when any part of the bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection develops or manifests itself during a period while that person is in the service of that office, staff, division, department, or unit. The compensation that is awarded for a bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection shall include, but not be limited to, full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by the workers compensation laws of this state.
(b)(1)The bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment or service. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it.
(2)The bloodborne infectious disease presumption shall be extended to a person covered by subdivision (a) following termination of service for a period of three 3 calendar months for each full year of service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(3)Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection presumption shall be extended to a person covered by subdivision (a) following termination of service for a period of 90 days, commencing with the last day actually worked in the specified capacity.
(c)The bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall in no case be attributed to any disease or skin infection existing prior to that development or manifestation.
(d)For the purposes of this section, bloodborne infectious disease means a disease caused by exposure to pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood that can cause disease in humans, including those pathogenic microorganisms defined as bloodborne pathogens by the Department of Industrial Relations.
SEC. 6.Section 3212.85 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.85.(a)This section applies to peace officers described in Sections 830.1 to 830.5, inclusive, of the Penal Code, and members of a fire department.
(b)The term injury, as used in this division, includes illness or resulting death due to exposure to a biochemical substance that develops or occurs during a period in which any member described in subdivision (a) is in the service of the department or unit.
(c)The compensation that is awarded for injury pursuant to this section shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.
(d)The injury that develops or manifests itself in these cases shall be presumed to arise out of, and in the course of, the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence. Unless controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(e)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)Biochemical substance means any biological or chemical agent that may be used as a weapon of mass destruction, including, but not limited to, any chemical warfare agent, weaponized biological agent, or nuclear or radiological agent, as these terms are defined in Section 11417 of the Penal Code.
(2)Members of a fire department includes, but is not limited to, an apprentice, volunteer, partly paid, or fully paid member of any of the following:
(A)A fire department of a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision.
(B)A fire department of the University of California and the California State University.
(C)The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(D)A county forestry or firefighting department or unit.
(E)A lifeguard employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
SEC. 7.Section 3212.9 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.9.In the case of a member of a police department of a city, county, or city and county, or a member of the sheriffs office of a county, or a member of the California Highway Patrol, or a county probation officer, or an inspector or investigator in a district attorneys office of any county whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, when that person is employed on a regular, full-time salary, or in the case of a member of a fire department of any city, county, or district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision, or any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, when those members are employed on a regular full-time salary, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement or firefighting, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of a lifeguard employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury includes meningitis that develops or manifests itself during a period while that person is in the service of that department, office, or unit. The compensation that is awarded for the meningitis shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits as provided by the provisions of this division.
The meningitis so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a person following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
SEC. 8.Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.11.This section applies to both of the following: (a) active lifeguards employed by a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision, except lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, and (b) active state lifeguards employed by the Department of Parks and Recreation. The term injury, as used in this division, includes skin cancer that develops or manifests itself during the period of the lifeguards employment. The compensation awarded for that injury shall include full hospital, surgical, and medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by the provisions of this division.
Skin cancer so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board shall find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a lifeguard following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
Skin cancer so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall not be attributed to any disease existing prior to that development or manifestation.
This section shall only apply to lifeguards employed for more than three consecutive months in a calendar year.
SEC. 8.5.Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.11.This section applies to both of the following: (a) active lifeguards employed by a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision, and (b) active state lifeguards employed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.3212.11.(a)This section applies to all of the following:
(1)Active lifeguards employed by a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision, except lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
(2)Active state lifeguards employed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(3)Peace officers, as defined in subdivisions (e) and (f) of Section 830.2 of the Penal Code.
The(b)The term injury, as used in this division, includes skin cancer that develops or manifests itself during the period of the lifeguards or peace officers employment. The compensation awarded for that injury shall include full hospital, surgical, and medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by the provisions of this division.
Skin(c)Skin cancer so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board shall find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a lifeguard or peace officer following termination of service for a period of three 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
Skin(d)Skin cancer so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall not be attributed to any disease existing prior to that development or manifestation.
This section(e)Paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) shall only apply to lifeguards employed for more than three consecutive months in a calendar year.
SEC. 9.The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the work of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department requires the workers compensation presumptions provided for in the Labor Code and afforded to similarly situated public safety employees.
SEC. 10.Section 8.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code proposed by both this bill and Senate Bill 391. That section of this bill shall only become operative if (1) both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2024, (2) each bill amends Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code, and (3) this bill is enacted after Senate Bill 391, in which case Section 8 of this bill shall not become operative.
In the case of members of a sheriffs office or the California Highway Patrol, district attorneys staff of inspectors and investigators or of police or fire departments of cities, counties, cities and counties, districts or other public or municipal corporations or political subdivisions, whether those members are volunteer, partly paid, or fully paid, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose duties require firefighting or of any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, whether voluntary, fully paid, or partly paid, and in the case of members of the warden service of the Wildlife Protection Branch of the Department of Fish and Game whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement service such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury as used in this act includes hernia when any part of the hernia develops or manifests itself during a period while the member is in the service in the office, staff, division, department, or unit, and in the case of members of fire departments, except those whose principal duties are clerical, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of county forestry or firefighting departments, except those whose principal duties are clerical, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose duties require firefighting, and in the case of members of the warden service of the Wildlife Protection Branch of the Department of Fish and Game whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement service such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury includes pneumonia and heart trouble that develops or manifests itself during a period while the member is in the service of the office, staff, department, or unit. In the case of regular salaried county or city and county peace officers, the term injury also includes any hernia that manifests itself or develops during a period while the officer is in the service. The compensation that is awarded for the hernia, heart trouble, or pneumonia shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by the workers compensation laws of this state.
The hernia, heart trouble, or pneumonia so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it. The presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of three 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
The hernia, heart trouble, or pneumonia so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall in no case be attributed to any disease existing prior to that development or manifestation.
SEC. 2.Section 3212.1 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.1.(a)This section applies to all of the following:
(1)Active firefighting members, whether volunteers, partly paid, or fully paid, of all of the following fire departments:
(A)A fire department of a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision.
(B)A fire department of the University of California and the California State University.
(C)The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(D)A county forestry or firefighting department or unit.
(2)Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a United States Department of Defense installation and who are certified by the Department of Defense as meeting its standards for firefighters.
(3)Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a National Aeronautics and Space Administration installation and who adhere to training standards established in accordance with Article 4 (commencing with Section 13155) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 12 of the Health and Safety Code.
(4)Peace officers, as defined in Section 830.1, subdivision (a) of Section 830.2, and subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 830.37, of the Penal Code, who are primarily engaged in active law enforcement activities.
(5)(A)Fire and rescue services coordinators who work for the Office of Emergency Services.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, fire and rescue services coordinators means coordinators with any of the following job classifications: coordinator, senior coordinator, or chief coordinator.
(6)Lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
(b)The term injury, as used in this division, includes cancer, including leukemia, that develops or manifests itself during a period in which any member described in subdivision (a) is in the service of the department or unit, if the member demonstrates that he or she the member was exposed, while in the service of the department or unit, to a known carcinogen as defined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, or as defined by the director.
(c)The compensation that is awarded for cancer shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.
(d)The cancer so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by evidence that the primary site of the cancer has been established and that the carcinogen to which the member has demonstrated exposure is not reasonably linked to the disabling cancer. Unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of three calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 120 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(e)The amendments to this section enacted during the 1999 portion of the 19992000 Regular Session shall be applied to claims for benefits filed or pending on or after January 1, 1997, including, but not limited to, claims for benefits filed on or after that date that have previously been denied, or that are being appealed following denial.
(f)This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the William Dallas Jones Cancer Presumption Act of 2010.
SEC. 3.Section 3212.15 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.15.(a)This section applies to all of the following:
(1)Active firefighting members, whether volunteers, partly paid, or fully paid, of all of the following fire departments:
(A)A fire department of a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision.
(B)A fire department of the University of California and the California State University.
(C)The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(D)A county forestry or firefighting department or unit.
(2)Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a United States Department of Defense installation and who are certified by the Department of Defense as meeting its standards for firefighters.
(3)Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a National Aeronautics and Space Administration installation and who adhere to training standards established in accordance with Article 4 (commencing with Section 13155) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 12 of the Health and Safety Code.
(4)Peace officers, as defined in Section 830.1, subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of Section 830.2, Section 830.32, subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 830.37, and Sections 830.5 and 830.55 of the Penal Code, who are primarily engaged in active law enforcement activities.
(5)(A)Fire and rescue services coordinators who work for the Office of Emergency Services.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, fire and rescue services coordinators means coordinators with any of the following job classifications: coordinator, senior coordinator, or chief coordinator.
(6)Lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
(b)In the case of a person described in subdivision (a), the term injury, as used in this division, includes post-traumatic stress disorder, as diagnosed according to the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association and that develops or manifests itself during a period in which any member described in subdivision (a) is in the service of the department or unit.
(c)For an injury that is diagnosed as specified in subdivision (b):
(1)The compensation that is awarded shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.
(2)The injury so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(d)Compensation shall not be paid pursuant to this section for a claim of injury unless the member has performed services for the department or unit for at least six months. The six months of employment need not be continuous. This subdivision does not apply if the injury is caused by a sudden and extraordinary employment condition.
(e)This section applies to injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2020.
(f)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 4.Section 3212.6 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.6.In the case of a member of a police department of a city or county, or a member of the sheriffs office of a county, or a member of the California Highway Patrol, or an inspector or investigator in a district attorneys office of any county whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, or a prison or jail guard or correctional officer who is employed by a public agency, when that person is employed upon a regular, full-time salary, or in the case of members of fire departments of any city, county, or district, or other public or municipal corporations or political subdivisions, when those members are employed on a regular fully paid basis, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose duties require firefighting and first-aid response services, or of any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, where those members are employed on a regular fully paid basis, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement, firefighting, or emergency first-aid response service such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury includes tuberculosis that develops or manifests itself during a period while that member is in the service of that department or office. The compensation that is awarded for the tuberculosis shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits as provided by the provisions of this division.
The tuberculosis so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of three calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
A public entity may require applicants for employment in firefighting positions who would be entitled to the benefits granted by this section to be tested for infection for tuberculosis.
SEC. 5.Section 3212.8 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.8.(a)In the case of members of a sheriffs office, of police or fire departments of cities, counties, cities and counties, districts, or other public or municipal corporations or political subdivisions, or individuals described in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, whether those persons are volunteer, partly paid, or fully paid, and in the case of active firefighting members of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or of any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, whether voluntary, fully paid, or partly paid, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement service or active firefighting services, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other office workers, and in the case of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury as used in this division, includes a blood-borne bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection when any part of the blood-borne bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection develops or manifests itself during a period while that person is in the service of that office, staff, division, department, or unit. The compensation that is awarded for a blood-borne bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection shall include, but not be limited to, full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by the workers compensation laws of this state.
(b)(1)The blood-borne bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment or service. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it.
(2)The blood-borne bloodborne infectious disease presumption shall be extended to a person covered by subdivision (a) following termination of service for a period of three calendar months for each full year of service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(3)Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection presumption shall be extended to a person covered by subdivision (a) following termination of service for a period of 90 days, commencing with the last day actually worked in the specified capacity.
(c)The blood-borne bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall in no case be attributed to any disease or skin infection existing prior to that development or manifestation.
(d)For the purposes of this section, blood-borne bloodborne infectious disease means a disease caused by exposure to pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood that can cause disease in humans, including those pathogenic microorganisms defined as blood-borne bloodborne pathogens by the Department of Industrial Relations.
SEC. 6.Section 3212.85 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.85.(a)This section applies to peace officers described in Sections 830.1 to 830.5, inclusive, of the Penal Code, and members of a fire department.
(b)The term injury, as used in this division, includes illness or resulting death due to exposure to a biochemical substance that develops or occurs during a period in which any member described in subdivision (a) is in the service of the department or unit.
(c)The compensation that is awarded for injury pursuant to this section shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this division.
(d)The injury that develops or manifests itself in these cases shall be presumed to arise out of, and in the course of, the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence. Unless controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption. This presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of three 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(e)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)Biochemical substance means any biological or chemical agent that may be used as a weapon of mass destruction, including, but not limited to, any chemical warfare agent, weaponized biological agent, or nuclear or radiological agent, as these terms are defined in Section 11417 of the Penal Code.
(2)Members of a fire department includes, but is not limited to, an apprentice, volunteer, partly paid, or fully paid member of any of the following:
(A)A fire department of a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision.
(B)A fire department of the University of California and the California State University.
(C)The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(D)A county forestry or firefighting department or unit.
(E)A lifeguard employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
SEC. 7.Section 3212.9 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.9.In the case of a member of a police department of a city, county, or city and county, or a member of the sheriffs office of a county, or a member of the California Highway Patrol, or a county probation officer, or an inspector or investigator in a district attorneys office of any county whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement service, when that person is employed on a regular, full-time salary, or in the case of a member of a fire department of any city, county, or district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision, or any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, when those members are employed on a regular full-time salary, excepting those whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement or firefighting, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other officeworkers, and in the case of a lifeguard employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the term injury includes meningitis that develops or manifests itself during a period while that person is in the service of that department, office, or unit. The compensation that is awarded for the meningitis shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits as provided by the provisions of this division.
The meningitis so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board is bound to find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a person following termination of service for a period of three 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
SEC. 8.Section 3212.11 of the Labor Code is amended to read:3212.11.This section applies to both of the following: (a) active lifeguards employed by a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision, except lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, and (b) active state lifeguards employed by the Department of Parks and Recreation. The term injury, as used in this division, includes skin cancer that develops or manifests itself during the period of the lifeguards employment. The compensation awarded for that injury shall include full hospital, surgical, and medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by the provisions of this division.
Skin cancer so developing or manifesting itself shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment. This presumption is disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless so controverted, the appeals board shall find in accordance with it. This presumption shall be extended to a lifeguard following termination of service for a period of three 3 calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
Skin cancer so developing or manifesting itself in these cases shall not be attributed to any disease existing prior to that development or manifestation.
This section shall only apply to lifeguards employed for more than three consecutive months in a calendar year.
SEC. 9.The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the work of lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department requires the workers compensation presumptions provided for in the Labor Code and afforded to similarly situated public safety employees.
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2024 | Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. |
| Jan 3, 2024 | Consideration of Governor's veto pending. |
| Oct 8, 2023 | Vetoed by Governor. |
| Sep 19, 2023 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m. |
| Sep 12, 2023 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 3284.). |
| Sep 12, 2023 | Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Page 3228.) |
| Sep 11, 2023 | In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 13 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77. |
| Sep 11, 2023 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 2586.). |
| Sep 7, 2023 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Sep 6, 2023 | Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. |
| Jun 27, 2023 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Jun 26, 2023 | From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. |
| Jun 14, 2023 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| May 10, 2023 | Referred to Com. on L., P.E. & R. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 1364.) |
| Apr 20, 2023 | Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. |
| Apr 19, 2023 | From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (April 19). |
| Mar 22, 2023 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (March 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Feb 23, 2023 | Referred to Com. on INS. |
| Feb 14, 2023 | From printer. May be heard in committee March 16. |
| Feb 13, 2023 | Read first time. To print. |
|
Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12, 2023 | AB 699 Weber Concurrence in Senate Amendments | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| Sep 11, 2023 | Assembly 3rd Reading AB699 Weber et al. By Blakespear | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| Jun 14, 2023 | Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Senate Standing Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement |
Passed |
|
| Apr 27, 2023 | AB 699 Weber Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| Apr 19, 2023 | Do pass. To Consent Calendar. | Assembly Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Mar 22, 2023 | Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| California Labor Federation, Afl-Cio | ** Support | |
| California Nurses Association | ** Support | |
| California Professional Fire Fighters | * Support | Mar 22, 2023 |
| California Teamsters Public Affairs Council | ** Support | |
| City of San Diego Fire Rescue Department | * Support | Mar 22, 2023 |
| City of San Diego, District 1 Councilmember Joe LaCava | ** Support | |
| Office of San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo | ** Support | |
| San Diego City Councilmember Joe Lacava | ** Support | |
| San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert | ** Support | |
| San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo | ** Support |
GOVERNOR'S VETO
GV Bill Id:AB 699
Author:(Weber)
As Enrolled Ver:September 14, 2023
2/3 vote
SUMMARY
Grants year-round, full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego in the Boating Safety Unit the same workers' compensation presumptive coverages currently afforded to firefighters and public safety officers.
Senate Amendments
Include double jointing language to avoid chaptering out conflicts with SB 391 (Blakespear) of the current legislative session, chaptering out amendments with SB 623 (Laird) of the current legislative session, and nonsubstantive technical changes.
Governor's Veto Message
This bill would extend the rebuttable presumptions currently provided to safety officers for hernia, pneumonia, heart trouble, cancer, tuberculosis, bloodborne infectious disease, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infections (MRSA), meningitis-related illnesses and injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and for illness or injury as a result of exposure to biochemical substances, to lifeguards employed on a year-round, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, but would except application of the skin cancer presumption to lifeguards in that Unit.
A presumption is not required for an occupational disease to be compensable. Although lifeguards engage in hazardous responsibilities, a presumption should be provided sparingly and based upon the unique hazards or proven difficulty of establishing a direct relationship between a disease or injury and the employee's work. Although well-intentioned, the need for the presumption envisioned by this bill must be supported by clear and compelling evidence.
COMMENTS
Presumptions. Presumptions have never been intended to create work related injuries when, in fact, the injuries in question are not work related. Rather, presumptions of compensability have been adopted, some many decades ago, to reflect unique circumstances where injuries or illnesses appear to logically be work related, but it is difficult for the injured worker to prove it is work related. There has clearly been some slippage over time from a rigorous application of this rationale, but it remains the underlying premise of presuming injuries or illnesses to be work related.
With very narrow exceptions for privately employed firefighters for public facilities, presumptions of compensability have been granted only to public safety officers – fire and peace officer employees. Thus, the costs of presumptions are borne only by state and local government employers, and only for the narrow class of employee, broadly referred to as public safety employees, whose jobs regularly place them in harm's way.
City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit. The presumptions that would be created by this bill would only apply to a small group of year-round, full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego in the Boating Safety Unit. According to the sponsor of the bill, the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, the Boating Safety Unit currently has 59 members and this number rarely fluctuates. The Boating Safety Unit is a specialized unit within the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, but are technically classified as lifeguards.
The sponsor argues that these Boating Safety Unit lifeguards "are basically firefighters on the water" and therefore the state should treat them the same as firefighters by providing them the same workers' compensation presumptions in statute. To that point, a review of materials provided by the sponsor shows that part of the job duties for the Boating Safety Unit include performing "marine fire-fighting functions."
The Boating Safety Unit appears to be a unique group of lifeguards trained to deal with the hazards of working on Mission Bay. According to the sponsor's letter in support of this bill "there is no other unit like it in California or the world."
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). 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, since 2016 the City of San Diego has provided the majority of these presumptions to full-time lifeguards through their MOU with the City. The most recent extension of this agreement, which continued to include these presumptions, was signed in June 2022. The MOU agreement expires on July 1, 2024 and the parties will have to reenter negotiations. Although these presumptions have been awarded to full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego since 2016 they still have to reenter negotiations on these benefits every few years.
Currently, full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego receive presumptions for the following, as part of the collective bargaining process:
- Hernia and pneumonia;
- Tuberculosis;
- Bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin infection;
- Exposure to a biochemical substance; and
- Meningitis.
This bill seeks to make these presumptions permanent for members of the Boating Safety Unit and to add additional presumptions for cancer, heart trouble, and PTSD for members of that specialized unit.
According to the Author
San Diego lifeguards in the Boating Safety Unit deserve the same presumptive workers' compensation protections already afforded to San Diego firefighters and all other safety service personnel currently receiving the benefit of these presumptions. These highly specialized safety personnel willingly subject themselves to the same hazardous conditions as firefighters to protect others, and we should not expect to battle administrative denials of medical claims when those same conditions cause them harm. This is a matter of equity and respect for those who put themselves in harm's way every day to protect us.
Arguments in Support
According to the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, "AB 699 would extend several statutory workers' compensation rebuttable presumptions to the firefighting personnel of the Boating Safety Unit within the San Diego City Fire Department. These 50 or so safety employees perform both water rescue and firefighting functions on the waterways and ocean in and around San Diego. There is no other unit like it in California or the world. They are all members of the Teamsters. Our members in the Boating Safety Unit are basically firefighters on the water. They are the fire department's first responders for burning vessels and structures on Mission Bay, the harbor, and adjacent areas. They also perform every other kind of rescue and paramedic response necessary. They are exposed to the same hazards and traumas that their brother and sister firefighters are exposed to. Yet, they are treated differently in statute. For example, when a firefighter is exposed to toxic chemicals and gets cancer, they get the benefit of a cancer workers' compensation presumption. However, a fire department employee in the Boating Safety Unit exposed to the very same toxic substances fighting marine fires gets no such benefit. This inequity is wrong and needs to be corrected."
Arguments in Opposition
None on file.
FISCAL COMMENTS
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
- Minor and absorbable costs to the Division of Workers' Compensation, as this bill changes presumptive coverage for only a small scope of employee's (the BSU has 59 members).
- No reimbursable state costs to the City of San Diego. Although this bill increases local costs by requiring the city to provide specific employment benefits to BSU lifeguards, this bill likely does not create a state-mandated local program. The Commission on State Mandates previously determined increased employee compensation costs mandated by state law do not result in a higher level of service to the public, for which the state must reimburse local costs.
VOTES
ASM INSURANCE: 12-0-2
YES: Calderon, Essayli, Berman, Chen, Dixon, Gipson, Jones-Sawyer, Ortega, Rodriguez, Soria, Valencia, Wood
ABS, ABST OR NV: Cervantes, Grayson
ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 14-0-2
YES: Holden, Megan Dahle, Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Dixon, Mike Fong, Hart, Lowenthal, Mathis, Papan, Robert Rivas, Sanchez, Weber, Wilson
ABS, ABST OR NV: Bryan, Pellerin
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0-1
YES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Cervantes, Chen, Connolly, Megan Dahle, Davies, Dixon, Essayli, Flora, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Holden, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Wallis, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Rendon
ABS, ABST OR NV: Jim Patterson
SENATE FLOOR: 39-0-1
YES: Allen, Alvarado-Gil, Archuleta, Ashby, Atkins, Becker, Blakespear, Bradford, Cortese, Dahle, Dodd, Durazo, Eggman, Glazer, Gonzalez, Grove, Hurtado, Jones, Laird, Limón, McGuire, Menjivar, Min, Newman, Nguyen, Niello, Ochoa Bogh, Padilla, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Seyarto, Skinner, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Umberg, Wahab, Wiener, Wilk
ABS, ABST OR NV: Caballero
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0-0
YES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Cervantes, Chen, Connolly, Megan Dahle, Davies, Dixon, Essayli, Flora, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Holden, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rendon, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Wallis, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Robert Rivas
UPDATED
VERSION: September 14, 2023
CONSULTANT: Claire Wendt / INS. / (916) 319-2086 FN: 0002498
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
CSA1 Bill Id:AB 699
Author:(Weber)
As Amended Ver:September 6, 2023
Majority vote
SUMMARY
Grants year-round, full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego in the Boating Safety Unit the same workers' compensation presumptive coverages currently afforded to firefighters and public safety officers.
Senate Amendments
Include double jointing language to avoid chaptering out conflicts with SB 391 (Blakespear) of the current legislative session, chaptering out amendments with SB 623 (Laird) of the current legislative session, and nonsubstantive technical changes.
COMMENTS
Presumptions. Presumptions have never been intended to create work related injuries when, in fact, the injuries in question are not work related. Rather, presumptions of compensability have been adopted, some many decades ago, to reflect unique circumstances where injuries or illnesses appear to logically be work related, but it is difficult for the injured worker to prove it is work related. There has clearly been some slippage over time from a rigorous application of this rationale, but it remains the underlying premise of presuming injuries or illnesses to be work related.
With very narrow exceptions for privately employed firefighters for public facilities, presumptions of compensability have been granted only to public safety officers – fire and peace officer employees. Thus, the costs of presumptions are borne only by state and local government employers, and only for the narrow class of employee, broadly referred to as public safety employees, whose jobs regularly place them in harm's way.
City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit. The presumptions that would be created by this bill would only apply to a small group of year-round, full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego in the Boating Safety Unit. According to the sponsor of the bill, the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, the Boating Safety Unit currently has 59 members and this number rarely fluctuates. The Boating Safety Unit is a specialized unit within the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, but are technically classified as lifeguards.
The sponsor argues that these Boating Safety Unit lifeguards "are basically firefighters on the water" and therefore the state should treat them the same as firefighters by providing them the same workers' compensation presumptions in statute. To that point, a review of materials provided by the sponsor shows that part of the job duties for the Boating Safety Unit include performing "marine fire-fighting functions."
The Boating Safety Unit appears to be a unique group of lifeguards trained to deal with the hazards of working on Mission Bay. According to the sponsor's letter in support of this bill "there is no other unit like it in California or the world."
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). 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, since 2016 the City of San Diego has provided the majority of these presumptions to full-time lifeguards through their MOU with the City. The most recent extension of this agreement, which continued to include these presumptions, was signed in June 2022. The MOU agreement expires on July 1, 2024 and the parties will have to reenter negotiations. Although these presumptions have been awarded to full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego since 2016 they still have to reenter negotiations on these benefits every few years.
Currently, full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego receive presumptions for the following, as part of the collective bargaining process:
- Hernia and pneumonia;
- Tuberculosis;
- Bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin infection;
- Exposure to a biochemical substance; and
- Meningitis.
This bill seeks to make these presumptions permanent for members of the Boating Safety Unit and to add additional presumptions for cancer, heart trouble, and PTSD for members of that specialized unit.
According to the Author
San Diego lifeguards in the Boating Safety Unit deserve the same presumptive workers' compensation protections already afforded to San Diego firefighters and all other safety service personnel currently receiving the benefit of these presumptions. These highly specialized safety personnel willingly subject themselves to the same hazardous conditions as firefighters to protect others, and we should not expect to battle administrative denials of medical claims when those same conditions cause them harm. This is a matter of equity and respect for those who put themselves in harm's way every day to protect us.
Arguments in Support
According to the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, "AB 699 would extend several statutory workers' compensation rebuttable presumptions to the firefighting personnel of the Boating Safety Unit within the San Diego City Fire Department. These 50 or so safety employees perform both water rescue and firefighting functions on the waterways and ocean in and around San Diego. There is no other unit like it in California or the world. They are all members of the Teamsters. Our members in the Boating Safety Unit are basically firefighters on the water. They are the fire department's first responders for burning vessels and structures on Mission Bay, the harbor, and adjacent areas. They also perform every other kind of rescue and paramedic response necessary. They are exposed to the same hazards and traumas that their brother and sister firefighters are exposed to. Yet, they are treated differently in statute. For example, when a firefighter is exposed to toxic chemicals and gets cancer, they get the benefit of a cancer workers' compensation presumption. However, a fire department employee in the Boating Safety Unit exposed to the very same toxic substances fighting marine fires gets no such benefit. This inequity is wrong and needs to be corrected."
Arguments in Opposition
None on file.
FISCAL COMMENTS
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
- Minor and absorbable costs to the Division of Workers' Compensation, as this bill changes presumptive coverage for only a small scope of employees (the BSU has 59 members).
- No reimbursable state costs to the City of San Diego. Although this bill increases local costs by requiring the city to provide specific employment benefits to BSU lifeguards, this bill likely does not create a state-mandated local program. The Commission on State Mandates previously determined increased employee compensation costs mandated by state law do not result in a higher level of service to the public, for which the state must reimburse local costs.
VOTES:
ASM INSURANCE: 12-0-2
YES: Calderon, Essayli, Berman, Chen, Dixon, Gipson, Jones-Sawyer, Ortega, Rodriguez, Soria, Valencia, Wood
ABS, ABST OR NV: Cervantes, Grayson
ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 14-0-2
YES: Holden, Megan Dahle, Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Dixon, Mike Fong, Hart, Lowenthal, Mathis, Papan, Robert Rivas, Sanchez, Weber, Wilson
ABS, ABST OR NV: Bryan, Pellerin
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0-1
YES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Cervantes, Chen, Connolly, Megan Dahle, Davies, Dixon, Essayli, Flora, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Holden, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Wallis, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Rendon
ABS, ABST OR NV: Jim Patterson
SENATE FLOOR: 39-0-1
YES: Allen, Alvarado-Gil, Archuleta, Ashby, Atkins, Becker, Blakespear, Bradford, Cortese, Dahle, Dodd, Durazo, Eggman, Glazer, Gonzalez, Grove, Hurtado, Jones, Laird, Limón, McGuire, Menjivar, Min, Newman, Nguyen, Niello, Ochoa Bogh, Padilla, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Seyarto, Skinner, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Umberg, Wahab, Wiener, Wilk
ABS, ABST OR NV: Caballero
UPDATED
VERSION: September 6, 2023
CONSULTANT: Claire Wendt / INS. / (916) 319-2086 FN: 0001992
SENATE RULES COMMITTEE Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 | AB 699 |
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 699
Author: Weber (D), et al.
Amended: 9/6/23 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR, PUB. EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/14/23
AYES: Cortese, Wilk, Durazo, Laird, Smallwood-Cuevas
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 4/27/23 (Consent) - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Workers’ compensation: presumed injuries
SOURCE: California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
DIGEST:
This bill expands workers’ compensation (WC) presumptions for hernia, pneumonia, heart maladies, cancer, tuberculosis, bloodborne infectious disease, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, and meningitis-related illnesses and injuries to a lifeguard employed on a year-round full-time basis in the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit; increases the amount of time after termination of employment with the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit that a lifeguard could file a WC claim for skin cancer; and expands the WC presumptions for illness or injury related to post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI) and exposure to biochemical substances to a lifeguard employed in the Boating Safety Unit of the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/6/23 include double jointing language to avoid chaptering out conflicts with AB 391, chaptering out amendments with SB 623, and nonsubstantive technical changes.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
- Establishes a WC system that provides benefits to an employee who suffers from an injury or illness that arises out of and in the course of employment, regardless of fault. The WC 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 authorized by the state.
- Creates a series of presumptions of an occupational injury for peace and safety officers for the purposes of the WC system, which include heart disease, hernias, pneumonia, cancer, meningitis, tuberculosis, and bio-chemical illness. The compensation awarded for these injuries must include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by WC law. Peace officers whose principal duties are clerical, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other office workers are excluded.
- Establishes a WC presumption that the development or manifestation of skin cancer is work related for active lifeguards employed by a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision and active state lifeguards employed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
- Creates, until January 1, 2025, a rebuttable presumption that a mental health condition or mental disability that results in a diagnosis of PTSI or mental health disorder is an occupational injury for specified active firefighters and peace officers who are primarily engaged in active law enforcement activities
- Provides that a psychiatric injury can be considered compensable within WC under specified conditions.
- Entitles specified peace officers, including lifeguards employed year-round on a regular full-time basis by a county of the first class or by the City of San Diego, to permanent or temporary disability leave, which consists of up to one year of fully paid leave if they are disabled by an injury or illness arising out of and in the course of their duties, paid for out of the WC Fund.
This bill:
- Expands WC presumptions for hernia, pneumonia, heart maladies, cancer, tuberculosis, bloodborne infectious disease, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, and meningitis-related illnesses and injuries to lifeguards employed on a year-round full-time basis in the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit.
- Increases the amount of time after termination of employment with the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit that a lifeguard could file a WC claim for skin cancer.
- Expands the PTSI workers’ compensation presumption to include lifeguards employed by the Boating Safety Unit of the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
- Expand WC presumptions for illness or injury related to exposure to biochemical substances for lifeguards employed in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
- Includes double jointing language to avoid chaptering out conflicts with AB 391 (Blakespear) and chaptering out amendments with SB 623 (Laird).
Background
Workers’ Compensation Presumptions
The purpose of a WC presumption is to simplify the process of determining which claims are work related by authorizing conditions that are prone to occur as a result of the occupation. Presumptions, passed by the Legislature, shift the burden of proof in an injury claim from the employee to the employer to require the employer to assume liability for certain occupational injuries. If the employee’s claim is not controverted, the injury or illness is deemed to have arisen out of and in the course of employment, thus making it compensable. While public employers have the opportunity to rebut the presumption, and establish that the injury or condition was not the result of employment, they are rarely rebutted.
Boating and Safety Unit Occupational Exposure
Existing law authorizes specified public safety personnel, including firefighters and lifeguards, that suffer from certain injuries or illnesses that are presumed to be acquired during the course of employment, to have those injuries or illnesses compensable within the WC framework. San Diego Fire Department Boating and Safety Unit lifeguards are the first responders for vessels and buildings on Mission Bay. In addition to the danger of putting out the fires, they are at an increased risk for different types of cancer due to smoke and hazardous chemicals they are exposed to, as multiple studies have shown.
Each year, around 15 million people visit San Diego’s beaches and lifeguards perform thousands of water rescues, medical aides, technical cliff rescues, boat rescues, boat assists, and other duties. Thus, they spend a significant portion of their employment hours outside. Conclusive data on occupational sun exposure for lifeguards and its effect on the propensity of skin cancer is scarce; however, both the Canadian and Australian governments have found a correlation between outdoor occupations and skin cancer.
Comments
Purpose of this bill. According to the author, “San Diego lifeguards in the Boating Safety Unit deserve the same presumptive workers’ compensation protections already afforded to San Diego firefighters and all other safety service personnel currently receiving the benefit of these presumptions. These highly specialized safety personnel willingly subject themselves to the same hazardous conditions as firefighters to protect others, and we should not expect to battle administrative denials of medical claims when those same conditions cause them harm. This is a matter of equity and respect for those who put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect us.”
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 391 (Blakespear, 2023) grants certain peace officers of the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Parks and Recreation the presumption that skin cancer is a work related condition for purposes of making a WC claim.
SB 623 (Laird, 2023) extends the existing rebuttable presumption for specified peace officers that a diagnosis of PTSI is occupational, and therefore covered by workers’ compensation and extend the PTSI rebuttable presumption to additional categories of peace officers, investigators, security officers, and dispatchers.
SB 284 (Stern, 2022) would have expanded the existing PTSI rebuttable presumption to specified public first responders. SB 284 did not include a sunset extension. The bill was vetoed by the Governor, who stated, “Current law, applicable for injuries occurring on or after 2020 and to be repealed on 1/1/2025, allows a rebuttable presumption of PTSD injury to apply for specified classes of active firefighting members, peace officers, and fire and rescue service coordinators who work for the Office of Emergency Services. This presumption is a careful step acknowledging the increasingly hazardous conditions to which the subject class members are exposed, balanced against the principles of workers' compensation law that dictates conservatism with respect to presumptions and psychiatric injuries. As such, it was intended to allow for the study of the benefits and effectiveness of the PTSD presumption. Expanding coverage of the PTSD injury presumption to significant classes of employees before any studies have been conducted on the existing class for whom the presumption is temporarily in place could set a dangerous precedent that has the potential to destabilize the workers' compensation system going forward, as stakeholders push for similarly unsubstantiated presumptions.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 9/6/23)
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council (source)
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Nurses Association
City of San Diego, District 1 Councilmember Joe Lacava
Office of San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo
San Diego City Councilmember Marni Von Wilpert
OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/6/23)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, “AB 699 would extend several statutory workers’ compensation rebuttable presumptions to the firefighting personnel of the Boating Safety Unit within the San Diego City Fire Department. These 50 or so safety employees perform both water rescue and firefighting functions on the waterways and ocean in and around San Diego. There is no other unit like it in California or the world. They are all members of the Teamsters. Our members in the Boating Safety Unit are basically firefighters on the water. They are the fire department’s first responders for burning vessels and structures on Mission Bay, the harbor, and adjacent areas. They also perform every other kind of rescue and paramedic response necessary. They are exposed to the same hazards and traumas that their brother and sister firefighters are exposed to. Yet, they are treated differently in statute. For example, when a firefighter is exposed to toxic chemicals and gets cancer, they get the benefit of a cancer workers’ compensation presumption. However, a fire department employee in the Boating Safety Unit exposed to the very same toxic substances fighting marine fires gets no such benefit. This inequity is wrong and needs to be corrected.”
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 4/27/23
AYES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Cervantes, Chen, Connolly, Megan Dahle, Davies, Dixon, Essayli, Flora, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Holden, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Wallis, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jim Patterson
Prepared by: Dawn Clover / L., P.E. & R. / (916) 651-1556
9/7/23 10:26:39
SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR, PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT
Senator Dave Cortese, Chair
2023 - 2024 Regular
Bill No: AB 699 Hearing Date: June 14, 2023
Author: | Weber | ||
Version: | February 13, 2023 | ||
Urgency: | No | Fiscal: | Yes |
Consultant: | Dawn Clover | ||
SUBJECT: Workers’ compensation: presumed injuries
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature expand workers’ compensation presumptions for hernia, pneumonia, heart maladies, cancer, tuberculosis, bloodborne infectious disease, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, and meningitis-related illnesses and injuries to a lifeguard employed on a year-round full-time basis in the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit?
Should the Legislature increase the amount of time after termination of employment with the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit that a lifeguard could file a workers’ compensation claim for skin cancer?
Should the Legislature expand the workers’ compensation presumptions for illness or injury related to post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI) and exposure to biochemical substances to a lifeguard employed in the Boating Safety Unit of the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department?
ANALYSIS
Existing 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, regardless 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 authorized by the state. (Labor Code §§3200)
- Creates a series of presumptions of an occupational injury for peace and safety officers for the purposes of the workers’ compensation system, which include heart disease, hernias, pneumonia, cancer, meningitis, tuberculosis, and bio-chemical illness. The compensation awarded for these injuries must include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by workers’ compensation law. Peace officers whose principal duties are clerical, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other office workers are excluded. (Labor Code §3212 - 3213.2)
- Establishes a presumption that the development or manifestation of skin cancer is work related for active lifeguards employed by a city, county, city and county, district, or other public or municipal corporation or political subdivision and active state lifeguards employed by the Department of Parks and Recreation. (Labor Code §3212.11)
- Creates, until January 1, 2025, a rebuttable presumption that a mental health condition or mental disability that results in a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress or mental health disorder is an occupational injury for the following peace officers who are primarily engaged in active law enforcement activities:
- Active firefighting members, whether volunteers, partly paid, or fully paid, of a local government or county, University of California, California State University, or the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
- Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a United States Department of Defense installation and who are certified by the Department of Defense as meeting its standards for firefighters.
- Active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a National Aeronautics and Space Administration installation.
- Sheriffs, undersheriffs, deputy sheriffs, police chiefs, police officers, and municipal law enforcement inspectors.
- Attorney General and special agents and investigators of the Department of Justice.
- Members of the California Highway Patrol, University of California Police Department, and California State University Police Department.
- Members of a community college police department and school district police departments.
- Members of an arson investigation unit.
- Parole officers and correctional officers.
- Fire and rescue services coordinators who work for the Office of Emergency Services. (Labor Code §3212.15)
- Provides that a psychiatric injury can be considered compensable within the workers’ compensation system if:
- The mental disorder causes disability or need for medical treatment, and it is diagnosed using the terminology and criteria of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition-Revised, or the terminology and diagnostic criteria of other psychiatric diagnostic manuals generally approved and accepted nationally by practitioners in the field of psychiatric medicine.
- The employee can demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that actual events of employment were predominant as to all causes combined of the psychiatric injury.
- In the case of employees whose injuries resulted from being a victim of a violent act or from direct exposure to a significant violent act, the employee shall be required to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that actual events of employment were a substantial cause of the injury. “Substantial cause” is defined as 35-40 percent of the causation from all sources combined.
- The employee worked for the employer for at least a total of six months unless the employee’s psychiatric injury is caused by a sudden and extraordinary employment condition. (Labor Code §3208.3)
- Entitles specified peace officers, including lifeguards employed year-round on a regular full-time basis by a county of the first class or by the City of San Diego, to permanent or temporary disability leave, which consists of up to one year of fully paid leave if they are disabled by an injury or illness arising out of and in the course of their duties, paid for out of the Workers’ Compensation Fund. (Labor Code §4850)
This bill:
- Expands workers’ compensation presumptions for hernia, pneumonia, heart maladies, cancer, tuberculosis, bloodborne infectious disease, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, and meningitis-related illnesses and injuries to a lifeguard employed on a year-round full-time basis in the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit.
- Increases the amount of time after termination of employment with the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit that a lifeguard could file a workers’ compensation claim for skin cancer.
- Expands the PTSI workers’ compensation presumption to include lifeguards employed by the Boating Safety Unit of the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
- Expand the workers’ compensation presumptions for illness or injury related to exposure to biochemical substances for lifeguards employed in the Boating Safety Unit by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
COMMENTS
- Background
Workers’ Compensation Presumptions
The purpose of a workers’ compensation presumption is to simplify the process of determining which claims are work-related by authorizing conditions that are prone to occur as a result of the occupation. Presumptions, passed by the Legislature, shift the burden of proof in an injury claim from the employee to the employer to require the employer to assume liability for certain occupational injuries. If the employee’s claim is not controverted, the injury or illness is deemed to have arisen out of and in the course of employment, thus making it compensable. While public employers have the opportunity to rebut the presumption, and establish that the injury or condition was not the result of employment, they are rarely rebutted.
Boating and Safety Unit Occupational Exposure
Existing law authorizes specified public safety personnel, including firefighters and lifeguards, that suffer from certain injuries or illnesses that are presumed to be acquired during the course of employment, to have those injuries or illnesses compensable within the workers’ compensation framework. San Diego Fire Department Boating and Safety Unit personnel are the first responders for vessels and buildings on Mission Bay. In addition to the danger of putting out the fires, they are at an increased risk for different types of cancer due to smoke and hazardous chemicals they are exposed to, as multiple studies have shown.[1]
Each year, around 15 million people visit San Diego’s beaches and lifeguards perform thousands of water rescues, medical aides, technical cliff rescues, boat rescues, boat assists, and other duties. Thus, they spend a significant portion of their employment hours outside. Conclusive data on occupational sun exposure for lifeguards and its effect on the propensity of skin cancer is scarce; however, both the Canadian and Australian governments have found a correlation between outdoor occupations and skin cancer.
- Need for this bill?
According to the author, “San Diego lifeguards in the Boating Safety Unit deserve the same presumptive workers’ compensation protections already afforded to San Diego firefighters and all other safety service personnel currently receiving the benefit of these presumptions. These highly specialized safety personnel willingly subject themselves to the same hazardous conditions as firefighters to protect others, and we should not expect to battle administrative denials of medical claims when those same conditions cause them harm. This is a matter of equity and respect for those who put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect us.”
- Code Sections in Conflict
This bill may require chaptering out amendments due to code section conflicts with SB 391 (Blakespear, 2023) and SB 623 (Laird, 2023). - Proponent Arguments
According to the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, “AB 699 would extend several statutory workers’ compensation rebuttable presumptions to the firefighting personnel of the Boating Safety Unit within the San Diego City Fire Department. These 50 or so safety employees perform both water rescue and firefighting functions on the waterways and ocean in and around San Diego. There is no other unit like it in California or the world. They are all members of the Teamsters.
Our members in the Boating Safety Unit are basically firefighters on the water. They are the fire department’s first responders for burning vessels and structures on Mission Bay, the harbor, and adjacent areas. They also perform every other kind of rescue and paramedic response necessary. They are exposed to the same hazards and traumas that their brother and sister firefighters are exposed to. Yet, they are treated differently in statute.
For example, when a firefighter is exposed to toxic chemicals and gets cancer, they get the benefit of a cancer workers’ compensation presumption. However, a fire department employee in the Boating Safety Unit exposed to the very same toxic substances fighting marine fires gets no such benefit. This inequity is wrong and needs to be corrected.”
3. Opponent Arguments:
None received
4. Prior Legislation:
AB 489 (Calderon, 2023) would extend an existing pilot program by one year to allow workers’ compensation temporary and permanent disability indemnity payments to continue to be made using prepaid cards. This bill is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement on June 14, 2023.
AB 597 (Rodriguez, 2023) would, for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2024, create a rebuttable presumption for emergency medical technicians and paramedics that PTSI is an occupational injury and covered under workers’ compensation. This bill is in the Assembly Committee on Insurance.
AB 1020 (Grayson, 2023) would make changes to the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 to expand the scope of medical conditions and presumptions relating to a service-connected disability for purposes of disability retirement, among other provisions. This bill is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement on June 14, 2023.
AB 1107 (Mathis, 2023) would require specified workers’ compensation presumptive injury compensation to be applicable to additional members and employees of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. This bill is in the Assembly Committee on Insurance.
AB 1145 (Maienschein, 2023) would extend a workers’ compensation rebuttable presumption for a diagnosis of a post-traumatic stress injury to certain state nurses, psychiatric technicians, and various medical social services specialists. This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement.
AB 1213 (Ortega, 2023) would extend the duration of temporary disability payments in the event an injured worker prevails at an independent medical review. This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement.
SB 391 (Blakespear, 2023) would expand the existing workers’ compensation presumption for skin cancer to include peace officers of the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Parks and Recreation whose primary duties are law enforcement. This bill was referred to the Assembly Committee on Insurance.
SB 623 (Laird, 2023) would extend the existing rebuttable presumption for specified peace officers that a diagnosis of PTSI is occupational, and therefore covered by workers’ compensation and extend the PTSI rebuttable presumption to additional categories of peace officers, investigators, security officers, and dispatchers. This bill has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Insurance.
SB 284 (Stern, 2022) would have expanded the existing PTSI rebuttable presumption to specified public first responders. SB 284 did not include a sunset extension. The bill was vetoed by the Governor, stating “Current law, applicable for injuries occurring on or after 2020 and to be repealed on 1/1/2025, allows a rebuttable presumption of PTSD injury to apply for specified classes of active firefighting members, peace officers, and fire and rescue service coordinators who work for the Office of Emergency Services. This presumption is a careful step acknowledging the increasingly hazardous conditions to which the subject class members are exposed, balanced against the principles of workers' compensation law that dictates conservatism with respect to presumptions and psychiatric injuries. As such, it was intended to allow for the study of the benefits and effectiveness of the PTSD presumption. Expanding coverage of the PTSD injury presumption to significant classes of employees before any studies have been conducted on the existing class for whom the presumption is temporarily in place could set a dangerous precedent that has the potential to destabilize the workers' compensation system going forward, as stakeholders push for similarly unsubstantiated presumptions.”
SB 1127 (Atkins - Chapter 835, Statutes of 2022), among other things, reduced the time period a public safety employer has between the filing of a workers’ compensation claim and when the employer must accept liability for a non-rebutted claim and extended the duration of temporary disability benefits from 104 weeks to 240 weeks for cancer presumption statute.
AB 334 (Mullin, 2021) would have expanded the existing workers’ compensation presumption pertaining to skin cancer by including peace officers of the Department of Fish and Game and the Department of Parks and Recreation whose primary duties are law enforcement. In his veto message, Governor Newsom stated “A presumption is not required for an occupational disease to be compensable. Such presumptions should be provided sparingly and should be based on the unique hazards or proven difficulty of establishing a direct relationship between a disease or injury and the employee's work. Although well intentioned, the need for the presumption envisioned by this bill is not supported by clear and compelling evidence.”
AB 991 (Ward, 2021) would have granted full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego in the Boating Safety Unit the same workers’ compensation presumptive coverages afforded to firefighters and public safety officers. This bill was not heard in the Assembly Committee on Insurance.
AB 2665 (Mullin, 2020) was substantively similar to AB 334. This bill was held in the Assembly Committee on Insurance.
SB 542 (Stern - Chapter 390, Statutes of 2019) created the rebuttable presumption for specified peace officers that a diagnosis of PTSI is occupational and therefore covered by workers’ compensation.
SB 527 (Block - Chapter 66, Statutes of 2013) added full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego to the class of public safety employees who receive enhanced temporary disability benefits when they are unable to work due to illness or injury that arose out of the course of employment.
AB 663 (Vargas - Chapter 846, Statutes of 2001) established a compensable injury presumption under workers’ compensation for lifeguards employed by specified state and local government agencies.
SUPPORT
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council (Sponsor)
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Nurses Association
City of San Diego, District 1 Councilmember Joe LaCava
Office of San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo
San Diego City Councilmember Marni Von Wilpert
OPPOSITION
None received
-- END --
https://www.lls.org/managing-your-cancer/firefighters-and-cancer-risk
Accessed May 22, 2023. ↑
Date of Hearing: April 19, 2023
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Chris Holden, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 699
Author:(Weber) – As Introduced Ver:February 13, 2023
Policy Committee: | Insurance | Vote: | 12 - 0 |
|
| ||
|
|
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill expands specified presumptions granted to firefighters and public safety officers under the workers’ compensation system to cover lifeguards employed on a year-round, full-time basis in the Boating Safety Unit (BSU) by the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
Specifically, this bill:
- Includes BSU lifeguards in the rebuttable presumption that hernia, pneumonia, heart trouble, all cancers, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), tuberculosis, bloodborne infectious disease, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin infection, illness or death due to exposure to a biochemical substance, and meningitis arose in the course of employment.
- Exempts BSU lifeguards from the narrower skin cancer presumption generally applicable to lifeguards, since BSU lifeguards will be covered by the broader cancer presumption.
FISCAL EFFECT:
- Minor and absorbable costs to the Division of Workers’ Compensation, as this bill changes presumptive coverage for only a small scope of employees (the BSU has 59 members).
- No reimbursable state costs to the City of San Diego. Although this bill increases local costs by requiring the city to provide specific employment benefits to BSU lifeguards, this bill likely does not create a state-mandated local program. The Commission on State Mandates previously determined increased employee compensation costs mandated by state law do not result in a higher level of service to the public, for which the state must reimburse local costs.
COMMENTS:
- Purpose. According to the author:
San Diego lifeguards in the Boating Safety Unit deserve the same presumptive workers’ compensation protections already afforded to San Diego firefighters and all other safety service personnel currently receiving the benefit of these presumptions. These highly specialized safety personnel willingly subject themselves to the same hazardous conditions as firefighters to protect others, and we should not expect [them] to battle administrative denials of medical claims when those same conditions cause them harm.
This bill is sponsored by the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council and supported by other labor organizations and three of nine San Diego city councilmembers.
- BSU Lifeguards. The BSU is a specialized unit within the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, but employees are technically classified as lifeguards. According to this bill’s sponsors, BSU lifeguards “are basically firefighters on the water,” whose formal job duties include performing “marine fire-fighting functions.”
Existing state law does not provide lifeguards with the range of workers’ compensation presumptions granted to firefighters and public safety officers. However, through the collective bargaining process, full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego currently receive similar presumptions for hernia, pneumonia, tuberculosis, bloodborne infectious disease, MRSA, illness or death due to exposure to a biochemical substance, and meningitis. The presumptions have been in effect since a 2016 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with the most recent extension of this agreement signed in June 2022 and set to expire on July 1, 2024. This bill makes these existing presumptions for BSU lifeguards permanent outside the MOU process, and also adds presumptions for heart trouble, cancer, and PTSD granted to firefighters and public safety officers under existing state law.
- Prior Legislation. AB 991 (Ward), of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session, was identical to this bill. AB 991 was referred to the Committee on Insurance, but was pulled from hearing at the request of the author.
Analysis Prepared by: Irene Ho / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
Date of Hearing: March 22, 2023
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE
Lisa Calderon, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 699 (
Author:Weber) – As Introduced Ver:February 13, 2023
SUBJECT: Workers’ compensation: presumed injuries
SUMMARY: Grants year-round, full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego in the Boating Safety Unit the same workers’ compensation presumptive coverages currently afforded to firefighters and public safety officers.
EXISTING LAW:
- Provides for a comprehensive system of workers' compensation benefits to be provided to workers whose injuries or conditions arise out of or in the course of employment.
- Provides that the injured worker must establish that their injury or condition was work related.
- Provides that the injuries or conditions that are presumed to be work related for specified firefighters and public safety officers include:
- Cancer; (Labor Code § 3212.1)
- Heart trouble, pneumonia, or hernia; (Labor Code § 3212)
- Tuberculosis; (Labor Code § 3212.6)
- Exposure to a biochemical substance; (Labor Code § 3212.85)
- Bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); and (Labor Code § 3212.8)
- Meningitis. (Labor Code § 3212.9)
- Provides that until January 1, 2025 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is presumed to be work related for specified firefighters and public safety officers. (Labor Code § 3212.15)
- Establishes a presumption that skin cancer is a work related injury for lifeguards employed by specified state and local government agencies. (Labor Code § 3212.11)
- Provides that the presumption of compensability in any of these circumstances is rebuttable.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
- Purpose. According to the author:
San Diego lifeguards in the Boating Safety Unit deserve the same presumptive workers’ compensation protections already afforded to San Diego firefighters and all other safety service personnel currently receiving the benefit of these presumptions. These highly specialized safety personnel willingly subject themselves to the same hazardous conditions as firefighters to protect others, and we should not expect to battle administrative denials of medical claims when those same conditions cause them harm. This is a matter of equity and respect for those who put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect us.
- City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Boating Safety Unit. The presumptions that would be created by this bill would only apply to a small group of year-round, full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego in the Boating Safety Unit. According to the sponsor of the bill, the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, the Boating Safety Unit currently has 59 members and this number rarely fluctuates. The Boating Safety Unit is a specialized unit within the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, but are technically classified as lifeguards.
The sponsor argues that these Boating Safety Unit lifeguards “are basically firefighters on the water” and therefore the state should treat them the same as firefighters by providing them the same workers’ compensation presumptions in statute. To that point, a review of materials provided by the sponsor shows that part of the job duties for the Boating Safety Unit include performing “marine fire-fighting functions.”
The Boating Safety Unit appears to be a unique group of lifeguards trained to deal with the hazards of working on Mission Bay. According to the sponsor’s letter in support of this bill “there is no other unit like it in California or the world.”
- Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). 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, since 2016 the City of San Diego has provided the majority of these presumptions to full-time lifeguards through their MOU with the City. The most recent extension of this agreement, which continued to include these presumptions, was signed in June 2022. The MOU agreement expires on July 1, 2024 and the parties will have to reenter negotiations. Although these presumptions have been awarded to full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego since 2016 they still have to reenter negotiations on these benefits every few years.
Currently, full-time lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego receive presumptions for the following, as part of the collective bargaining process:
- Hernia and pneumonia;
- Tuberculosis;
- Bloodborne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin infection;
- Exposure to a biochemical substance; and
- Meningitis.
This bill seeks to make these presumptions permanent for members of the Boating Safety Unit and to add additional presumptions for cancer, heart trouble, and PTSD for members of that specialized unit.
- Presumptions. Presumptions have never been intended to create work related injuries when, in fact, the injuries in question are not work related. Rather, presumptions of compensability have been adopted, some many decades ago, to reflect unique circumstances where injuries or illnesses appear to logically be work related, but it is difficult for the injured worker to prove it is work related. There has clearly been some slippage over time from a rigorous application of this rationale, but it remains the underlying premise of presuming injuries or illnesses to be work related.
With very narrow exceptions for privately employed firefighters for public facilities, presumptions of compensability have been granted only to public safety officers – fire and peace officer employees. Thus, the costs of presumptions are borne only by state and local government employers, and only for the narrow class of employee, broadly referred to as public safety employees, whose jobs regularly place them in harm’s way. - Prior Legislation. AB 991 (Ward) of 2021, was held in the Assembly Insurance Committee. AB 991 would have granted lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego Boating Safety Unit the same workers’ compensation presumptive coverages that this bill seeks to provide.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Nurses Association
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
City of San Diego, District 1 Councilmember Joe LaCava
Office of San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo
San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by: Claire Wendt / INS. / (916) 319-2086
Discussed in Hearing
53SEC
Assembly Floor
53SEC
Senate Floor
5MIN
Senate Standing Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement
11MIN
Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance
Bill Author
Bill Co-Author(s):
