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Employers Debate Organized Labor on the Best Fix to Temporary Disability
April 11, 2007
Employers Debate Organized Labor on the Best Fix to Temporary Disability – CCWC’s Sponsored Legislation Lives to Fight Another Day
Earlier today CCWC testified in strong support of its sponsored legislation, AB 1341 (Benoit-R) which would expand the timeframe in which an injured worker has to collect temporary disability as well as repeal the Temporary Disability Minimum Rate, tying minimum TD payments to actual wages. CCWC greatly appreciates the strong support by the California Chamber of Commerce, California State Association of Counties, California Manufacturers and Technology Association, League of California Cities, California Restaurant Association, Regional Council of Rural Counties, and CSAC-EIA of AB 1341 and CCWC’s efforts to find a reasonable fix to today’s Temporary Disability Issues.
The California Labor Federation and California Applicants Attorney’s Association’s only arguments against our bill were that employers have already seen enough savings and insurance companies are currently collecting “excessive profits.” Our opposition was hard-pressed to find reasonable fault with the actual components of our bill and we look forward to continuing this dialogue with the members of the Assembly Insurance CommitteeAB 1341 was not voted upon by the Committee and CCWC is currently exploring our options with Assembly member Benoit and the rest of the employer community in order to move forward. Unfortunately, AB 338 (Coto-D) which would increase the number of weeks of TD from 104 to 156, and expand the window from two to five years, along with tying TD to Utilization Review timeframes was passed out of Committee on a party line vote, with the only member not voting on the bill being Assemblywoman Parra who was not present during today’s hearing. This legislation represents a significant step back in its current form from SB 899 and in addition to the unreasonable expansions of TD timeframes and weeks of benefit; this legislation also significantly expands Labor Code Section 4850 benefits, a significant cost driver to our public employer members. Committee Chair, Mr. Coto indicated during his testimony on AB 338 that he was interested in, and wanting to work with Employers and Organized Labor to modify his legislation and create a bill that satisfies both parties concerns and that will also be signed by Governor Schwarzenegger. We at CCWC look forward to this dialogue and hope to enter into those discussions without haste.