This bill would amend Labor Code Section 139.48 to require the Administrative Director, in consultation with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation, to develop educational materials to assist employers to comply with existing requirements of Section 132a and the Fair Employment and Housing Act no later than September 30, 2009.  This bill would also require workers’ compensation insurers to provide a copy of the Workers’ Compensation Return-to-Work Guidebook to insured employers upon receipt of the first claim for workers’ compensation disability benefits in any policy year.  This bill would extend the sunset for Section 139.48 from January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2015, in order to allow adequate time for the results of the program to be empirically evaluated.   

 

Existing law establishes a workers’ compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment.  Existing law requires the administrative director, until January 1, 2009, to establish, to the extent that funds are available for that purpose, the Return-to-Work Program to promote the early and sustained return to work of employees following a work-related injury or illness.  Existing law also requires the administrative director to reimburse an eligible employer for expenses incurred to make workplace modifications to accommodate the employee’s return to modified or alternative work, in accordance with specified requirements. 

 

 

This bill would extend the Return-to-Work Program, along with the operation of these provisions requiring the establishment and implementation of the Return-to-Work Program, to January 1, 2015.  This bill would also require the administrative director, in consultation with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation, no later than September 30, 2009, to develop, make available, and publish a guide covering the Return-to-Work Program requirements, containing specified information.  It would also require a workers’ compensation insurer to provide a copy of the guide in printed form to every insured employer within 30 days of the insurer’s receipt of the employer’s first claim for temporary or permanent disability indemnity benefits made under any annual policy period.

 

 

Enactment of AB 2181 will educate employers on how to most effectively return an injured worker back to work. Many small businesses do not have a dedicated Human Resources Department and are unaware of how to comply with California’s existing Return-to-Work laws pertaining to offering an injured worker employment with reasonable accommodations and therefore, increase their chances of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).  This bill will educate employers on the legal requirements relating to return-to-work and disability management and put timely information in the hands of the employers when they need it, after they report a workers’ compensation claim.  This bill will also improve the return-to-work process of communication between the employer, doctor, insurer and employee to enable a successful transition, better outcome and identify consistent best practices.

 

 

• Small Business California (Sponsor)

 

None

 

Status: Assembly Insurance Committee

 

Contact: Nate Pinkston

Office of Assemblymember Ira Ruskin

(916) 319-2021

nate.pinkston@asm.ca.gov