CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 88, No. 5 May 2023 A Report of En Banc and Significant Panel Decisions of the WCAB and Selected Court Opinions of Related Interest, With a Digest of WCAB Decisions...
By Hon. Susan V. Hamilton, Former Assistant Secretary and Deputy Commissioner, California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board In 2022 there were 7,490 wildfires in California. They burned 362,455 acres...
By Christopher Mahon Should temporary workers be treated separately under workers’ compensation law due to additional employment and income risks they may incur after workplace injuries? A new study...
Here's a noteworthy panel decision where a family member conveyed essential information to the AME on behalf of the injured employee. The Lexis headnote is below. CA - NOTEWORTHY PANEL DECISIONS...
Oakland, CA – Part II of a California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) research series on low- volume/high-cost drugs used to treat California injured workers identifies three Dermatological drugs...
Labor Contracting; Client Liability; Temporary Workers. AB 1897 (Ch. No. __), signed by Governor Brown on Sept. 28, 2014, establishes civil legal responsibility and civil liability of client employers, which obtain workers from third-party labor contractors, for the payment of wages and the failure to obtain valid workers’ compensation coverage. AB 1897 prohibits a client employer from shifting to the labor contractor the legal duties or liabilities under workplace safety provisions with respect to the workers provided by the labor contractor. AB 1897 defines both “client employer” and “labor contractor” and provides exceptions to each. AB 1897 does not prohibit client employers and labor contractors from mutually contracting for otherwise lawful remedies for violations of its provisions by the other party. The Labor Commissioner, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the Employment Development Department are authorized to adopt any necessary rules to administer and enforce AB 1897.
As stated in the bill analysis, the sponsors of the bill argue that “reliance on labor contractors undermines the enforcement of labor laws and erodes working conditions in key industries.” Workers’ rights go unprotected in “the shadows of the subcontracted economy.” Presently a worker must prove joint employer status to hold a company responsible for a workplace injury—a costly, slow and difficult litigation process. The bill protects “vulnerable temporary workers” and holds companies accountable for workplace violations. Meanwhile, employer groups opposed the bill, arguing that it forces a company to “essentially insure the wage and hour obligations, workers’ compensation coverage, and occupational health and safety duties of a separate employer’s employees.” Specifically, the bill “holds an innocent third-party individual or business liable for the employment obligations of another employer.” The bill will create significant litigation, according to these employer groups. They also point out that adequate protections already exist under the law for dealing with “documented problems that involve contracting.”