California Senate Bill SB351 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 351AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Senator La Malfa FEBRUARY 15, 2011 An act  to amend Section 4706.5 of the Labor Code,  relating to workers' compensation. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 351, as amended, La Malfa. Workers' compensation: fatal accidents. 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 employment. Existing law requires statutory death benefits to be paid to the employee's dependents, or, if there are no dependents, to the personal representative of the deceased employee, heirs, or other persons entitled to compensation, as prescribed.  Under existing law, when benefits are due to a deceased employee and the employee has no one surviving to whom the benefit should be paid, the compensation is required to be paid to the Department of Industrial Relations for reimbursement of other injury claims, as specified.   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to workers' compensation in the case of fatal on-the-job accidents.   This bill would prohibit the department from seeking payment of an amount owed pursuant to this provision by obtaining a lien on writ of execution relating to a judgment obtained by a member of the immediate family of the deceased employee, unless the member of the immediate family is the employer for whom the deceased employee was working at the time of the fatal injury.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no   yes  . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 4706.5 of the   Labor Code   is amended to read:  4706.5. (a) Whenever any fatal injury is suffered by an employee under circumstances that would entitle the employee to compensation benefits, but for his or her death, and the employee does not leave surviving any person entitled to a dependency death benefit, the employer shall pay a sum to the Department of Industrial Relations equal to the total dependency death benefit that would be payable to a surviving spouse with no dependent minor children. (b) When the deceased employee leaves no surviving dependent, personal representative, heir, or other person entitled to the accrued and unpaid compensation referred to in Section 4700, the accrued and unpaid compensation shall be paid by the employer to the Department of Industrial Relations. (c) The payments to be made to the Department of Industrial Relations, as required by subdivisions (a) and (b), shall be deposited in the General Fund and shall be credited, as a reimbursement, to any appropriation to the Department of Industrial Relations for payment of the additional compensation for subsequent injury provided in Article 5 (commencing with Section 4751), in the fiscal year in which the Controller's receipt is issued. (d) The payments to be made to the Department of Industrial Relations, as required by subdivision (a), shall be paid to the department in a lump sum in the manner provided in subdivision (b) of Section 5101. (e) The Department of Industrial Relations shall keep a record of all payments due the state under this section, and shall take any steps as may be necessary to collect those amounts. (f) Each employer, or the employer's insurance carrier, shall notify the administrative director, in any form as the administrative director may prescribe, of each employee death, except when the employer has actual knowledge or notice that the deceased employee left a surviving dependent. (g) When, after a reasonable search, the employer concludes that the deceased employee left no one surviving who is entitled to a dependency death benefit, and concludes that the death was under circumstances that would entitle the employee to compensation benefits, the employer may voluntarily make the payment referred to in subdivision (a). Payments so made shall be construed as payments made pursuant to an appeals board findings and award. Thereafter, if the appeals board finds that the deceased employee did in fact leave a person surviving who is entitled to a dependency death benefit, upon that finding, all payments referred to in subdivision (a) that have been made shall be forthwith returned to the employer, or if insured, to the employer's workers' compensation carrier that indemnified the employer for the loss.  (h) When a payment is owed to the Department of Industrial Relations pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), the department may not seek payment of the amount by obtaining a lien or writ of execution relating to a judgment obtained by a member of the immediate family of the deceased employee, unless the member of the immediate family is the employer for whom the deceased employee was working at the time of the fatal injury.   (h)   (i)  This section does not apply where there is no surviving person entitled to a dependency death benefit or accrued and unpaid compensation if a death benefit is paid to any person under paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 4702.  SECTION 1.   It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to workers' compensation in the case of fatal on-the-job accidents.