Oklahoma 2025 Regular Session

Oklahoma Senate Bill SB1076 Latest Draft

Bill / Amended Version Filed 04/21/2025

                             
 
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION 
 
STATE OF OKLAHOMA 
 
1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025) 
 
ENGROSSED SENATE 
BILL NO. 1076 	By: Murdock of the Senate 
 
  and 
 
  Newton of the House 
 
 
 
 
An Act relating to the Administrative Workers ’ 
Compensation Act; amending 85A O.S. 2021, Section 2, 
which relates to definitions; modifying definitions; 
updating statutory language; updating statutory 
references; and providing an effective date . 
 
 
 
 
 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA: 
SECTION 1.     AMENDATORY     85A O.S. 2021, Section 2, is 
amended to read as follows: 
Section 2. As used in the Administrative Workers ’ Compensation 
Act: 
1.  “Actually dependent” means a surviving spouse, a child or 
any other person who receives one-half (1/2) or more of his or her 
support from the employee; 
2.  “Carrier” means any stock company, mutual company, or 
reciprocal or interinsurance exchange authorized to write or carry 
on the business of workers ’ compensation insurance in this state.    
 
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Whenever required by the context, the term “carrier” carrier shall 
be deemed to include duly qualified se lf-insureds or self-insured 
groups; 
3.  “Case management” means the ongoing coordination, by a case 
manager, of health care services provided to an inj ured or disabled 
worker, including but not limited to systematically monitoring the 
treatment rendered and the medical progress of the injured or 
disabled worker; ensuring that any treatment plan follows all 
appropriate treatment protocols, utilization con trols and practice 
parameters; assessing whether alternative health care services are 
appropriate and delivered in a cost-effective manner based upon 
acceptable medical standards; and ensuring that the injured or 
disabled worker is following the prescribed health care plan; 
4.  “Case manager” means a person who is a registered nurse with 
a current, active unencumbered license from the Oklahoma Board of 
Nursing, or possesses one or more of the following certifications 
which indicate the individual has a mini mum number of years of case 
management experience, has passed a national competency test and 
regularly obtains continuing education hours to maintain 
certification: 
a. Certified Disability Management Specialist (CDMS), 
b. Certified Case Manager (CCM), 
c. Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse (CRRN), 
d. Case Manager - Certified (CMC),   
 
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e. Certified Occupational Health Nurse (COHN), or 
f. Certified Occupational Health Nurse Specialist (COHN -
S); 
5.  “Certified workplace medical plan ” means an organization o f 
health care providers or any other entity, certified by the State 
Commissioner of Health, that is autho rized to enter into a 
contractual agreement with an employer, a group self-insurance 
association plan, an employer’s workers’ compensation insurance 
carrier, a third-party administrator or an insured to provide 
medical care under the Administrative Workers ’ Compensation Act.  
Certified plans shall only include plans which provide medical 
services and payment for services on a fee -for-service basis to 
medical providers; 
6.  “Child” means a natural or adopted son or daughter of the 
employee under eighteen (18 ) years of age; or a natural or adopted 
son or daughter of an employee eighteen (18) years of age or over 
who is physically or mentally incapable of se lf-support; or any 
natural or adopted son or daughter of an employee eighteen (18) 
years of age or over who is actually dependent; or any natural or 
adopted son or daughter of an employee between eighteen (18) and 
twenty-three (23) years of age who is enro lled as a full-time 
student in any accredited educational institution.  The term “child” 
child includes a posthumous child, a child legally adopted or one 
for whom adoption proceedings are pending at the time of death, an   
 
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actually dependent stepchild or an actually dependent acknowledged 
child born out of wedlock; 
7.  “Claimant” means a person who claims benefits for an injury 
or occupational disease pursuant to the provisions of the 
Administrative Workers ’ Compensation Act; 
8.  “Commission” means the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation 
Commission; 
9. a. “Compensable injury” means damage or harm to the 
physical structure of the body, or damage or harm to 
prosthetic appliances, including eyeglasses, contact 
lenses, or hearing aids, of which the major cause is 
either an accident, cumulative trauma or occupational 
disease arising out of the course and scope of 
employment.  An “accident” means an event involving 
factors external to the employee that: 
(1) was unintended, unanticipated, unforeseen, 
unplanned and unexpec ted, 
(2) occurred at a specifically identifiable time and 
place, 
(3) occurred by chance or from unknown c auses, or 
(4) was independent of sickness, mental incapacity, 
bodily infirmity or any other cause. 
b. “Compensable injury” Compensable injury does not 
include:   
 
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(1) injury to any active participant in assaults or 
combats which, although they may occur in the 
workplace, are the result of non -employment-
related hostility or animus of one, both, or all 
of the combatants and which assault or combat 
amounts to a deviation from customary duties; 
provided, however, injuries caused by horseplay 
shall not be consider ed to be compensable 
injuries, except for innocent victims, 
(2) injury incurred while engaging in or performing 
or as the result of engaging in or perf orming any 
recreational or social activities for the 
employee’s personal pleasure, 
(3) injury which was inflicted on the employee at a 
time when employment services were not being 
performed or before the employee was hired or 
after the employment relations hip was terminated, 
(4) injury if the accident was caused by the use of 
alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescr iption drugs 
used in contravention of physician ’s orders.  If 
a biological specimen is collected within twenty -
four (24) hours of the employee being in jured or 
reporting an injury, or if at any time after the 
injury a biological specimen is collected by the   
 
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Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner if 
the injured employee does not survive for at 
least twenty-four (24) hours after the injury and 
the employee tests positive for intoxication, an 
illegal controlled substance, or a legal 
controlled substance used in contravention to a 
treating physician’s orders, or refuses to 
undergo the drug and alcohol testing, there shall 
be a rebuttable presumption th at the injury was 
caused by the use of alcohol, illegal drugs, or 
prescription drugs used in contravention of 
physician’s orders.  This presumption may only be 
overcome if the employee proves by clear and 
convincing evidence that his or her state of 
intoxication had no causal relationship to the 
injury, 
(5) any strain, degeneration, damage or harm to, or 
disease or condition of, the eye or 
musculoskeletal structure or other body part 
resulting from the natural results of aging, 
osteoarthritis, arthritis, or degenerative 
process including, but not limited to, 
degenerative joint disease, degenerative disc 
disease, degenerative   
 
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spondylosis/spondylolisthesis and spinal 
stenosis, or 
(6) any preexisting condition except when the 
treating physician clearly confirms an 
identifiable and significant aggravation incurred 
in the course and scope of employment. 
c. A compensable injury shall be established by medical 
evidence supported by objective findings as defined in 
paragraph 31 of this section. 
d. The injured employee shall prove by a preponderance of 
the evidence that he or she has suffered a compensable 
injury. 
e. Benefits shall not be payable for a condition which 
results from a non-work-related independent 
intervening cause following a compensable injury which 
causes or prolongs disability , or aggravation, or 
requires treatment.  A non -work-related independent 
intervening cause does not require negligence or 
recklessness on the part of a claimant. 
f. An employee who suffers a compensable injury shall be 
entitled to receive compensation as prescribed in this 
act the Administrative Workers ’ Compensation Act.  
Notwithstanding other provisions of law, if it is 
determined that a compensable injury did not occur,   
 
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the employee shall not be entitled to compensation 
under this act the Administrative Workers ’ 
Compensation Act; 
10.  “Compensation” means the money allowance payabl e to the 
employee or to his or her dependents and includes the medical 
services and supplies provided for in Section 50 of this title and 
funeral expenses; 
11.  “Consequential injury ” means injury or harm to a part of 
the body that is a direct result of the injury or medical treatment 
to the part of the body originally injured in the claim.  The 
Commission shall not make a finding of a consequential inju ry unless 
it is established by objective medical evidence that medical 
treatment for such part of the bod y is required; 
12.  “Continuing medical maintenance ” means medical treatment 
that is reasonable and necessary to maintain a claimant’s condition 
resulting from the compensable injury or illness after reaching 
maximum medical improvement.  Continuing medical maintenance shall 
not include diagnostic tests, surgery, injections, counseling, 
physical therapy, or pain management devices or equipment; 
13.  “Course and scope of employment ” means an activity of any 
kind or character for which the employee was hired and that relates 
to and derives from the work, business, trade or profession of an 
employer, and is performed by an employee in the furtherance of the 
affairs or business of an employer.  The term includes activities   
 
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conducted on the premises of an employer or at other locations 
designated by an employer and travel by an employee in furtherance 
of the affairs of an employer that is specifically directed by the 
employer.  This term does not include: 
a. an employee’s transportation to and from his or her 
place of employment, 
b. travel by an employee in furtherance of the affairs of 
an employer if the travel is also in furtherance of 
personal or private affa irs of the employee, 
c. any injury occurring in a parking lot or other common 
area adjacent to an employer ’s place of business 
before the employee clocks in or otherwise begins work 
for the employer or after the employee clocks out or 
otherwise stops work for the employer unless the 
employer owns or maintains exclusive control over the 
area, or 
d. any injury occurring while an employee is on a work 
break, unless the injury occurs while the employee is 
on a work break inside the employer ’s facility or in 
an area owned by or exclusively controlled by the 
employer and the work break is authorized by the 
employee’s supervisor; 
14.  “Cumulative trauma” means an injury to an employee that is 
caused by the combined effect of repetitive physical activities   
 
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extending over a period of time in the course and scope of 
employment.  Cumulative trauma shall not mean fatigue, soreness or 
general aches and pain that may have been caused, aggravated, 
exacerbated or accelerated by the employee ’s course and scope of 
employment.  Cumulative trauma shall have resulted directly and 
independently of all other causes; 
15.  “Death” means only death resulting from compensable injury 
as defined in paragraph 9 of this section; 
16.  “Disability” means incapacity because of compensable inju ry 
to earn, in the same or any other employment, substantially the same 
amount of wages the employee was receiving at the time of the 
compensable injury; 
17.  “Drive-away operations” includes every person engaged in 
the business of transporting and deliver ing new or used vehicles by 
driving, either singly or by towbar, saddle -mount or full-mount 
method, or any combination thereof, with or without towing a 
privately owned vehicle; 
18. a. “Employee” means any person, including a minor, in the 
service of an employer under any contract of hire or 
apprenticeship, written or oral, expressed or implied, 
but excluding one whose employment is casual and not 
in the course of the trade, business, profession, or 
occupation of his or her employer and excluding one 
who is required to perform work for a municipality or   
 
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county or the state or federal government on having 
been convicted of a criminal offense or while 
incarcerated.  “Employee” Employee shall also include 
a member of the Oklahoma National Guard while in the 
performance of duties only while in response to state 
orders and any authorized voluntary or uncompensated 
worker, rendering services as a firefighter, law 
enforcement officer or emergency management worker.  
Travel by a police officer, fireman, or a member o f a 
first aid or rescue squad, in responding to and 
returning from an emergency, shall be deemed to be in 
the course of employment. 
b. The term “employee” employee shall not include: 
(1) any person for whom an employer is liable under 
any Act of Congress f or providing compensation to 
employees for injuries, disease or death arising 
out of and in the course of employment including, 
but not limited to, the Federal Employees ’ 
Compensation Act, the Federal Employers ’ 
Liability Act, the Longshore and Harbor Work ers’ 
Compensation Act and the Jones Act, to the extent 
his or her employees are subject to such acts, 
(2) any person who is employed in agriculture, 
ranching, or horticulture by an employer who had   
 
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a gross annual payroll in the preceding calendar 
year of less than One Hundred Thousand Dollars 
($100,000.00) One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars 
($150,000.00) wages for agricultural, ranching or 
horticultural workers, or any person who is 
employed in agriculture, ranching or horticulture 
who is not engaged in ope ration of motorized 
machines.  This exemption applies to any period 
of time for which such employment exists, 
irrespective of whether or not the person is 
employed in other activities for which the 
exemption does not apply.  If the person is 
employed for part of a year in exempt activities 
and for part of a year in nonexempt activities, 
the employer shall be responsible for providing 
workers’ compensation only for the period of time 
for which the person is employed in nonexempt 
activities, 
(3) any person who is a licensed real estate sales 
associate or broker, paid on a commission basis, 
(4) any person employed by an employer with five or 
fewer total employees, all of whom are related 
within the second degree by blood or marriage to 
the employer, all of whom are dependents living   
 
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in the household of the employer, or all of whom 
are a combination of such relativ es and 
dependents.  If the employer is not a natural 
person such relative shall be related within the 
second degree by blood or marriage to a person 
who owns fifty percent (50%) or more of the 
employer, or such dependent shall be in the 
household of a person who owns fifty percent 
(50%) or more of the employer, 
(5) any person employed by an employer which is a 
youth sports league which qualifies for exem ption 
from federal income taxation pursuant to federal 
law, 
(6) sole proprietors, members of a partnershi p, 
individuals who are party to a franchise 
agreement as set out by the Federal Trade 
Commission franchise disclosure rule, 16 CFR 
436.1 through 436.11 , members of a limited 
liability company who own at least ten percent 
(10%) of the capital of the limited liability 
company or any stockholder -employees of a 
corporation who own ten percent (10%) or more 
stock in the corporation, unless they elect to be 
covered by a policy of insurance covering   
 
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benefits under the Administrative Workers ’ 
Compensation Act, 
(7) any person providing or performing voluntary 
service who receives no wages for the services 
other than meals, drug or alcohol rehabilitative 
therapy, transportation, lodging or reimbursement 
for incidental expenses except for volunteers 
specifically provided for in subparagraph a of 
this paragraph, 
(8) a person, commonly referred to as an owner -
operator, who owns or leases a truck -tractor or 
truck for hire, if the owner-operator actually 
operates the truck-tractor or truck and if the 
person contracting with the owner-operator is not 
the lessor of the truck -tractor or truck.  
Provided, however, an owner -operator shall not be 
precluded from workers ’ compensation coverage 
under the Administrative Workers ’ Compensation 
Act if the owner-operator elects to participate 
as a sole proprietor, 
(9) a person referred to as a drive -away owner-
operator who privately owns and utilizes a tow 
vehicle in drive-away operations and operates 
independently for hire, if the drive -away owner-  
 
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operator actually utilizes the tow vehicl e and if 
the person contracting with the drive -away owner-
operator is not the lessor of the tow vehicle.  
Provided, however, a drive -away owner-operator 
shall not be precluded from workers ’ compensation 
coverage under the Administrative Workers ’ 
Compensation Act if the drive -away owner-operator 
elects to participate as a sole proprietor, and 
(10) any person who is employed as a domestic servant 
or as a casual worker in and about a private home 
or household, which private home or household had 
a gross annual payroll in the preceding calendar 
year of less than Fifty Thousand Dollars 
($50,000.00) for such workers , and 
(11) any person who is a dependent child of an owner 
of a farm, ranch, livestock market, or other 
agricultural business and the dependent child is 
employed by such; 
19.  “Employer” means a natural person, partnership, 
association, limited liability company, corporation, and the legal 
representatives of a deceased employer, or the receiver or trustee 
of a person, partnership, association, corporatio n, or limited 
liability company, departments, instrumentalities and institutions 
of this state and divisions thereof, counties and divisions thereof,   
 
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public trusts, boards of education and incorporated cities or towns 
and divisions thereof, employing a person included within the term 
“employee” employee as defined in this section.  Employer may also 
mean the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance car rier, if 
applicable.  Except as provided otherwise, this act the 
Administrative Workers ’ Compensation Act applies to all public and 
private entities and institutions; 
20.  “Employment” includes work or labor in a trade, business, 
occupation or activity car ried on by an employer or any authorized 
voluntary or uncompensated worker rendering services as a 
firefighter, peace officer or emergency management worker; 
21.  “Evidence-based” means expert-based, literature-supported 
and outcomes validated by well -designed randomized trials when such 
information is available and which uses the best available evidence 
to support medical decision making; 
22.  “Gainful employment” means the capacity to perform 
employment for wages for a period of time that is not part -time, 
occasional or sporadic; 
23.  “Impaired self-insurer” means a private self -insurer or 
group self-insurance association that fails to pay its workers ’ 
compensation obligations, or is financially unable to do so and is 
the subject of any proceeding under th e Federal Bankruptcy Reform 
Act of 1978, and any subsequent amendments or is the subject of any 
proceeding in which a receiver, custodian, liquidator,   
 
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rehabilitator, trustee or similar officer has been appointed by a 
court of competent jurisdiction to act in lieu of or on behalf of 
the self-insurer; 
24.  “Incapacity” means inadequate strength or ability to 
perform a work-related task; 
25.  “Insurance Commissioner ” means the Insurance Commissioner 
of the State of Oklahoma this state; 
26.  “Insurance Department” means the Insurance Department of 
the State of Oklahoma this state; 
27.  “Major cause” means more than fifty percent (50%) of the 
resulting injury, disease or illness.  A finding of major cause 
shall be established by a preponderance of the evidence.  A finding 
that the workplace was not a major cause of the injury, disease or 
illness shall not adversely affect the exclusive remedy provisions 
of this act the Administrative Workers ’ Compensation Act and shall 
not create a separate cause of action outside this act the 
Administrative Workers ’ Compensation Act; 
28.  “Maximum medical improvement ” means that no further 
material improvement would reasonably be expected from medical 
treatment or the passage of time; 
29.  “Medical services” means those services s pecified in 
Section 50 of this title; 
30.  “Misconduct” shall include the following: 
a. unexplained absenteeism or tardiness,   
 
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b. willful or wanton indifference to or neglect of the 
duties required, 
c. willful or wanton breach of any duty required by the 
employer, 
d. the mismanagement of a position of employment by 
action or inaction, 
e. actions or omissions t hat place in jeopardy the 
health, life, or property of self or others, 
f. dishonesty, 
g. wrongdoing, 
h. violation of a law, or 
i. a violation of a policy or rule adopted to ensure 
orderly work or the safety of self or others; 
31. a. (1) “Objective findings” are those findings which 
cannot come under the voluntary control of the 
patient. 
(2) (a) When determining permanent disability, a 
physician, any other medical provider, an 
administrative law judge, the Commission or 
the courts shall not consider complain ts of 
pain. 
(b) For the purpose of making permanent 
disability ratings to the spine, physicians 
shall use criteria established by the Sixth   
 
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Edition of the American Medical Association 
“Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent 
Impairment”. 
(3) (a) Objective evidence necessary to prove 
permanent disability in occupational hearing 
loss cases may be established by medically 
recognized and accepted clinical diag nostic 
methodologies, including, but not limited 
to, audiological tests that measure air and 
bone conduction thresholds and speech 
discrimination ability. 
(b) Any difference in the baseline hearing 
levels shall be confirmed by subsequent 
testing; provided, however, such test shall 
be given within four (4) weeks of the 
initial baseline hearing level test but not 
before five (5) days after being adjusted 
for presbycusis. 
b. Medical opinions addressing compensability and 
permanent disability shall be stated wi thin a 
reasonable degree of medical certainty; 
32.  “Official Disability Guidelines ” or “ODG” means the current 
edition of the Official Disability Guidelines and the ODG Treatment 
in Workers’ Comp as published by the Work Loss Data Institute;   
 
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33.  “Permanent disability” means the extent, expressed as a 
percentage, of the loss of a portion of the total physiological 
capabilities of the human body as established by competent medical 
evidence and based on the Sixth Edition of the American Medical 
Association “Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment ”, if 
the impairment is contained therein; 
34.  “Permanent partial disability ” means a permanent disability 
or loss of use after maximum medical improvement has been reached 
which prevents the injured employe e, who has been released to return 
to work by the treating physician, from returning to his or her pre -
injury or equivalent job.  All evaluations of permanent partial 
disability must be supported by objective findings; 
35.  “Permanent total disability ” means, based on objective 
findings, incapacity, based upon accidental injury or occupational 
disease, to earn wages in any employment for which the employee may 
become physically suited and reasonably fitted by education, 
training, experience or vocational re habilitation provided under 
this act the Administrative Workers ’ Compensation Act.  Loss of both 
hands, both feet, both legs, or both eyes, or any two thereof, shall 
constitute permanent total disability; 
36.  “Preexisting condition ” means any illness, inj ury, disease, 
or other physical or mental condition, whether or not work -related, 
for which medical advic e, diagnosis, care or treatment was 
recommended or received preceding the date of injury;   
 
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37.  “Pre-injury or equivalent job ” means the job that the 
claimant was working for the employer at the time the injury 
occurred or any other employment offered by the claimant ’s employer 
that pays at least one hundred percent (100%) of the employee ’s 
average weekly wage; 
38.  “Private self-insurer” means a private employer that has 
been authorized to self -insure its workers’ compensation obligations 
pursuant to this act the Administrative Workers ’ Compensation Act, 
but does not include group self -insurance associations authorized by 
this act the Administrative Worke rs’ Compensation Act, or any public 
employer that self-insures pursuant to this act the Administrative 
Workers’ Compensation Act; 
39.  “Prosthetic” means an artificial device used to replace a 
part or joint of the body that is lost or injured in an acciden t or 
illness covered by this act the Administrative Workers ’ Compensation 
Act; 
40.  “Scheduled member” or “member” means hands, fingers, arms, 
legs, feet, toes, and eyes.  In addition, for purposes of the 
Multiple Injury Trust Fund only, “scheduled member” scheduled member 
means hearing impairment; 
41.  “Scientifically based ” involves the application of 
rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable 
and valid knowledge relevant to medical testing, diagnoses and 
treatment; is adequate to j ustify the general conclusions drawn; and   
 
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has been accepted by a peer -review journal or approved by a pan el of 
independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and 
scientific review; 
42.  “State average weekly wage ” means the state average wee kly 
wage determined by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission in 
the preceding calendar year.  If such determination is not 
available, the Commission shall determine the wage annually after 
reasonable investigation; 
43.  “Subcontractor” means a person, firm, corporation or other 
legal entity hired by the general or prime contractor to perform a 
specific task for the completion of a work -related activity; 
44.  “Surgery” does not include an injection, or the forcing of 
fluids beneath the skin, for treatm ent or diagnosis; 
45.  “Surviving spouse” means the employee’s spouse by reason of 
a legal marriage recognized by the State of Oklahoma this state or 
under the requirements of a common law marriage in this state, as 
determined by the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission; 
46.  “Temporary partial disability ” means an injured employee 
who is temporarily una ble to perform his or her job, but may perform 
alternative work offered by the employer; 
47.  “Time of accident” or “date of accident” means the time or 
date of the occurrence of the accidental incident from which 
compensable injury, disability, or death results; and   
 
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48.  “Wages” means money compensation received for employment at 
the time of the accident, including the reasonable value of board, 
rent, housing, lodging, or similar advantage received from the 
employer and includes the amount of tips required to be reported by 
the employer under Section 6053 of the Internal Revenue Code and the 
regulations promulgated pursuant thereto or the amount of actua l 
tips reported, whichever amount is greater. 
SECTION 2.  This act shall become effective November 1, 2025. 
 
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY AND PUBLIC SAFETY , dated 
04/17/2025 – DO PASS.