BILL NUMBER: AB 305 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gonzalez
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Chiu and McCarty )
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
An act to amend Section 1174 4663 of
the Labor Code, relating to employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 305, as amended, Gonzalez. Employers: payroll records.
Workers' compensation: permanent disability
apportionment.
Existing workers' compensation law generally requires employers to
secure payment of workers' compensation, including medical
treatment, for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out
of, or in the course of, employment. An employer is liable only for
the percentage of the permanent disability directly caused by the
injury arising out of, and occurring in the course of, employment.
Existing law requires apportionment of permanent disability to be
based on causation, and a physician who prepares a report addressing
the issue of permanent disability due to a claimed industrial injury
is required to address the issue of causation of the permanent
disability. The physician is required to make an apportionment
determination by finding what approximate percentage of the permanent
disability was caused by the direct result of injury arising out of
and occurring in the course of employment, and what approximate
percentage of the permanent disability was caused by other factors
both before and subsequent to the industrial injury, including prior
industrial injuries.
This bill would prohibit apportionment of permanent disability, in
cases of physical injury, from being based on pregnancy, breast
cancer, menopause, or osteoporosis. The bill would also prohibit
apportionment of permanent disability, in cases of psychiatric
injury, from being based on psychiatric disability or impairment
caused by sexual harassment, pregnancy, breast cancer, menopause, or
osteoporosis.
Existing law requires an employer to furnish to the Industrial
Welfare Commission, upon request, reports or information regarding
the wages, hours, and other information that the employer is required
by law to keep regarding his or her employees. A violation of this
provision is a crime.
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to this provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4663 of the Labor
Code is amended to read:
4663. (a) Apportionment of permanent disability shall be based on
causation.
(b) Any physician who prepares a report addressing the issue of
permanent disability due to a claimed industrial injury shall in that
report address the issue of causation of the permanent disability.
(c) (1) In order for a physician's report to
be considered complete on the issue of permanent disability, the
report must include an apportionment determination. A
(A) A physician shall make an
apportionment determination by finding what approximate percentage of
the permanent disability was caused by the direct result of injury
arising out of and occurring in the course of employment and what
approximate percentage of the permanent disability was caused by
other factors both before and subsequent to the industrial injury,
including prior industrial injuries. If
(B) Apportionment in cases of physical injury shall not be based
on any of the following conditions:
(i) Pregnancy.
(ii) Breast cancer.
(iii) Menopause.
(iv) Osteoporosis.
(C) Apportionment in cases of psychiatric injury shall not be
based on psychiatric disability or impairment caused by sexual
harassment or caused by any of the conditions listed in subparagraph
(B).
(3) If the physician is unable to
include an apportionment determination in his or her report, the
physician shall state the specific reasons why the physician could
not make a determination of the effect of that
a prior condition on the permanent disability arising from
the injury. The physician shall then consult with other physicians
or refer the employee to another physician from whom the employee is
authorized to seek treatment or evaluation in accordance with this
division in order to make the final determination.
(d) An employee who claims an industrial injury shall, upon
request, disclose all previous permanent disabilities or physical
impairments.
(e) Subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) shall not apply to injuries or
illnesses covered under Sections 3212, 3212.1, 3212.2, 3212.3,
3212.4, 3212.5, 3212.6, 3212.7, 3212.8, 3212.85, 3212.9, 3212.10,
3212.11, 3212.12, 3213, and 3213.2.
SECTION 1. Section 1174 of the Labor Code is
amended to read:
1174. Any person employing labor in this state shall:
(a) Furnish to the commission, at its request, reports or
information that the commission requires to carry out this chapter.
The reports and information shall be verified if required by the
commission or any member thereof.
(b) Allow any member of the commission or the employees of the
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement free access to the place of
business or employment of the person to secure any information or
make any investigation that they are authorized by this chapter to
ascertain or make. The commission may inspect or make excerpts,
relating to the employment of employees, from the books, reports,
contracts, payrolls, documents, or papers of the person.
(c) Keep a record showing the names and addresses of all employees
employed and the ages of all minors.
(d) Keep, at a central location in the state or at the plants or
establishments at which employees are employed, payroll records
showing the hours worked daily by and the wages paid to, and the
number of piece-rate units earned by and any applicable piece rate
paid to, employees employed at the respective plants or
establishments. These records shall be kept in accordance with rules
established for this purpose by the commission, but in any case shall
be kept on file for not less than three years. An employer shall not
prohibit an employee from maintaining a personal record of hours
worked, or, if paid on a piece-rate basis, piece-rate units earned.