SB-899 and the reforms of 2004 were a triumph for the State of California. By no means did these reforms fix all the problems in California Workers’ Compensation, but at least some efforts were made to make California semi-profitable (read: survivable) for employers.
One of the regular targets for the chipping-away efforts of applicants, their attorneys, and their treating physicians, is Labor Code § 4656. § 4656 limits applicants to 104 weeks of temporary disability within a 5 year period.
Temporary disability is meant to provide some semblance of income, 2/3rd of the injured workers’ average yearly wages, while the worker is recovering – treatment, improvement, etc.
That means that someone is paying the employee 2/3rd of his or her income and receiving no labor or benefits in return.
Assembly Bill 947, being pushed by Assemblyman Jose Solorio, would increase the cap on temporary disability to 240 weeks. You can read the amended text here. That means the self-insured employer or insurance company would be paying the worker three years worth of salary over the course of five years without seeing any productive labor in return.
Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee will have a hearing on the bill. Having already worked its way through the Assembly your humble author can only hope that this bills finds a sudden and tragic demise somewhere in the Senate.
Greg, Without speaking to the content or merits of AB 947, your comments leave the reader with an unmistakable impression that TD is throwing money out the window without any “labor or benefits in return.” Remember the constitutional right that work comp represents and the original trade-off that is the foundation for the system. That is, the employer escapes tort liability in exchange for the promise to provide health care and financial help to employees legitimately injured on the job. Escaping tort liability is the “return.” While one must acknowledge the outliers on both sides – employers (and their agents) and employees (and their agents), one does not need to vilify the entire system along the way.
Steve, TD is a burden on the employer already. 2/3rd of the employee’s income, which he or she gets tax-free, while no work is being done to pay for it, is difficult enough to swallow.
I’ve seen enough cases where the worker gets a side-job while claiming TD. The efforts to extend TD to 240 weeks show the intent to further drain the workers’ comp system of the limited resources it has.
I don’t know if I’m vilifying the entire system, but I do know that the system in California is not generous to employers as is, and it doesn’t appear to be getting any kinder with age.
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