Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
                               HOUSE BILL 1927
                       Chapter 144, Laws of 2024
                               68th Legislature
                             2024 Regular Session
TIME-LOSS COMPENSATION—FIRST THREE DAYS—DURATION OF DISABILITY
 EFFECTIVE DATE: June 6, 2024—Except for section 2, which takes
                      effect July 1, 2025.
Passed by the House February 6, 2024                 CERTIFICATE
  Yeas 60 Nays 37
                                       I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
                                       House of Representatives of the
            LAURIE JINKINS             State of Washington, do hereby
Speaker of the House of                certify that the attached is HOUSE
Representatives                        BILL 1927 as passed by the House of
                                       Representatives and the Senate on
                                       the dates hereon set forth.
Passed by the Senate March 1, 2024
  Yeas 33 Nays 16                                   BERNARD DEAN
                                                                   Chief Clerk
              DENNY HECK
President of the Senate
Approved March 18, 2024 3:11 PM                         FILED
                                                    March 19, 2024
                                                 Secretary of State
              JAY INSLEE                         State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
                                HOUSE BILL 1927
                   Passed Legislature - 2024 Regular Session
     State of Washington       68th Legislature       2024 Regular Session
     By Representatives Bronoske, Berry, Ortiz-Self, Reed, Ormsby, Kloba,
     Doglio, Lekanoff, Fosse, and Pollet
     Prefiled 12/11/23. Read first time 01/08/24.    Referred to Committee
     on Labor & Workplace Standards.
      AN ACT Relating to reducing the number of days that a worker's
  temporary total disability must continue to receive industrial
  insurance compensation for the day of an injury and the three-day
  period following the injury; amending RCW 51.32.090 and 51.32.090;
  providing an effective date; and providing an expiration date.
  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     Sec. 1.   RCW 51.32.090 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 37 s 101 are each
 amended to read as follows:
     (1) When the total disability is only temporary, the schedule of
 payments contained in RCW 51.32.060 (1) and (2) shall apply, so long
 as the total disability continues.
     (2) Any compensation payable under this section for children not
 in the custody of the injured worker as of the date of injury shall
 be payable only to such person as actually is providing the support
 for such child or children pursuant to the order of a court of record
 providing for support of such child or children.
     (3)(a) As soon as recovery is so complete that the present
 earning power of the worker, at any kind of work, is restored to that
 existing at the time of the occurrence of the injury, the payments
 shall cease. If and so long as the present earning power is only
 partially restored, the payments shall:
                                     p. 1                       HB 1927.SL
     (i) For claims for injuries that occurred before May 7, 1993,
 continue in the proportion which the new earning power shall bear to
 the old; or
     (ii) For claims for injuries occurring on or after May 7, 1993,
 equal ((eighty)) 80 percent of the actual difference between the
 worker's present wages and earning power at the time of injury, but:
 (A) The total of these payments and the worker's present wages may
 not exceed ((one hundred fifty)) 150 percent of the average monthly
 wage in the state as computed under RCW 51.08.018; (B) the payments
 may not exceed ((one hundred)) 100 percent of the entitlement as
 computed under subsection (1) of this section; and (C) the payments
 may not be less than the worker would have received if (a)(i) of this
 subsection had been applicable to the worker's claim.
     (b) No compensation shall be payable under this subsection (3)
 unless the loss of earning power shall exceed five percent.
     (c) The prior closure of the claim or the receipt of permanent
 partial disability benefits shall not affect the rate at which loss
 of earning power benefits are calculated upon reopening the claim.
     (4)(a) The legislature finds that long-term disability and the
 cost of injuries is significantly reduced when injured workers remain
 at work following their injury. To encourage employers at the time of
 injury to provide light duty or transitional work for their workers,
 wage subsidies and other incentives are made available to employers
 insured with the department.
     (b) Whenever the employer of injury requests that a worker who is
 entitled to temporary total disability under this chapter be
 certified by a physician or licensed advanced registered nurse
 practitioner as able to perform available work other than his or her
 usual work, the employer shall furnish to the physician or licensed
 advanced registered nurse practitioner, with a copy to the worker, a
 statement describing the work available with the employer of injury
 in terms that will enable the physician or licensed advanced
 registered nurse practitioner to relate the physical activities of
 the job to the worker's disability. The physician or licensed
 advanced registered nurse practitioner shall then determine whether
 the worker is physically able to perform the work described. The
 worker's temporary total disability payments shall continue until the
 worker is released by his or her physician or licensed advanced
 registered nurse practitioner for the work, and begins the work with
 the employer of injury. If the work thereafter comes to an end before
                                     p. 2                       HB 1927.SL
 the worker's recovery is sufficient in the judgment of his or her
 physician or licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner to
 permit him or her to return to his or her usual job, or to perform
 other available work offered by the employer of injury, the worker's
 temporary total disability payments shall be resumed. Should the
 available work described, once undertaken by the worker, impede his
 or her recovery to the extent that in the judgment of his or her
 physician or licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner he or
 she should not continue to work, the worker's temporary total
 disability payments shall be resumed when the worker ceases such
 work.
     (c) To further encourage employers to maintain the employment of
 their injured workers, an employer insured with the department and
 that offers work to a worker pursuant to this subsection (4) shall be
 eligible for reimbursement of the injured worker's wages for light
 duty or transitional work equal to ((fifty)) 50 percent of the basic,
 gross wages paid for that work, for a maximum of ((sixty-six)) 66
 workdays within a consecutive ((twenty-four)) 24-month period. In no
 event may the wage subsidies paid to an employer on a claim exceed
 ((ten thousand dollars)) $10,000. Wage subsidies shall be calculated
 using the worker's basic hourly wages or basic salary, and no subsidy
 shall be paid for any other form of compensation or payment to the
 worker such as tips, commissions, bonuses, board, housing, fuel,
 health care, dental care, vision care, per diem, reimbursements for
 work-related expenses, or any other payments. An employer may not,
 under any circumstances, receive a wage subsidy for a day in which
 the worker did not actually perform any work, regardless of whether
 or not the employer paid the worker wages for that day.
     (d) If an employer insured with the department offers a worker
 work pursuant to this subsection (4) and the worker must be provided
 with training or instruction to be qualified to perform the offered
 work, the employer shall be eligible for a reimbursement from the
 department for any tuition, books, fees, and materials required for
 that training or instruction, up to a maximum of ((one thousand
 dollars)) $1,000. Reimbursing an employer for the costs of such
 training or instruction does not constitute a determination by the
 department that the worker is eligible for vocational services
 authorized by RCW 51.32.095 ((and 51.32.099)).
     (e) If an employer insured with the department offers a worker
 work pursuant to this subsection (4), and the employer provides the
                                     p. 3                       HB 1927.SL
 worker with clothing that is necessary to allow the worker to perform
 the offered work, the employer shall be eligible for reimbursement
 for such clothing from the department, up to a maximum of ((four
 hundred dollars)) $400. However, an employer shall not receive
 reimbursement for any clothing it provided to the worker that it
 normally provides to its workers. The clothing purchased for the
 worker shall become the worker's property once the work comes to an
 end.
     (f) If an employer insured with the department offers a worker
 work pursuant to this subsection (4) and the worker must be provided
 with tools or equipment to perform the offered work, the employer
 shall be eligible for a reimbursement from the department for such
 tools and equipment and related costs as determined by department
 rule, up to a maximum of ((two thousand five hundred dollars))
 $2,500. An employer shall not be reimbursed for any tools or
 equipment purchased prior to offering the work to the worker pursuant
 to this subsection (4). An employer shall not be reimbursed for any
 tools or equipment that it normally provides to its workers. The
 tools and equipment shall be the property of the employer.
     (g) An employer may offer work to a worker pursuant to this
 subsection (4) more than once, but in no event may the employer
 receive wage subsidies for more than ((sixty-six)) 66 days of work in
 a consecutive ((twenty-four)) 24-month period under one claim. An
 employer may continue to offer work pursuant to this subsection (4)
 after the worker has performed ((sixty-six)) 66 days of work, but the
 employer shall not be eligible to receive wage subsidies for such
 work.
     (h) An employer shall not receive any wage subsidies or
 reimbursement of any expenses pursuant to this subsection (4) unless
 the employer has completed and submitted the reimbursement request on
 forms developed by the department, along with all related information
 required by department rules. No wage subsidy or reimbursement shall
 be paid to an employer who fails to submit a form for such payment
 within one year of the date the work was performed. In no event shall
 an employer receive wage subsidy payments or reimbursements of any
 expenses pursuant to this subsection (4) unless the worker's
 physician or licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner has
 restricted him or her from performing his or her usual work and the
 worker's physician or licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner
 has released him or her to perform the work offered.
                                     p. 4                       HB 1927.SL
     (i) Payments made under (b) through (g) of this subsection are
 subject to penalties under RCW 51.32.240(5) in cases where the funds
 were obtained through willful misrepresentation.
     (j) Once the worker returns to work under the terms of this
 subsection (4), he or she shall not be assigned by the employer to
 work other than the available work described without the worker's
 written consent, or without prior review and approval by the worker's
 physician or licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner. An
 employer who directs a claimant to perform work other than that
 approved by the attending physician and without the approval of the
 worker's physician or licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner
 shall not receive any wage subsidy or other reimbursements for such
 work.
     (k) If the worker returns to work under this subsection (4), any
 employee health and welfare benefits that the worker was receiving at
 the time of injury shall continue or be resumed at the level provided
 at the time of injury. Such benefits shall not be continued or
 resumed if to do so is inconsistent with the terms of the benefit
 program, or with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement
 currently in force.
     (l) In the event of any dispute as to the validity of the work
 offered or as to the worker's ability to perform the available work
 offered by the employer, the department shall make the final
 determination pursuant to an order that contains the notice required
 by RCW 51.52.060 and that is subject to appeal subject to RCW
 51.52.050.
     (5) An employer's experience rating shall not be affected by the
 employer's request for or receipt of wage subsidies.
     (6) The department shall create a Washington stay-at-work account
 which shall be funded by assessments of employers insured through the
 state fund for the costs of the payments authorized by subsection (4)
 of this section and for the cost of creating a reserve for
 anticipated liabilities. Employers may collect up to one-half the
 fund assessment from workers.
     (7) No worker shall receive compensation for or during the day on
 which injury was received or the three days following the same,
 unless his or her disability shall continue for a period of
 ((fourteen)) seven consecutive calendar days from date of injury:
 PROVIDED, That attempts to return to work in the first ((fourteen))
 seven days following the injury shall not serve to break the
                                     p. 5                       HB 1927.SL
 continuity of the period of disability if the disability continues
 ((fourteen)) seven days after the injury occurs.
     (8) Should a worker suffer a temporary total disability and
 should his or her employer at the time of the injury continue to pay
 him or her the wages which he or she was earning at the time of such
 injury, such injured worker shall not receive any payment provided in
 subsection (1) of this section during the period his or her employer
 shall so pay such wages: PROVIDED, That holiday pay, vacation pay,
 sick leave, or other similar benefits shall not be deemed to be
 payments by the employer for the purposes of this subsection.
     (9) In no event shall the monthly payments provided in this
 section:
     (a) Exceed the applicable percentage of the average monthly wage
 in the state as computed under the provisions of RCW 51.08.018 as
 follows:
                           AFTER           PERCENTAGE
                         June 30, 1993          105%
                         June 30, 1994          110%
                         June 30, 1995          115%
                         June 30, 1996          120%
     (b) For dates of injury or disease manifestation after July 1,
 2008, be less than ((fifteen)) 15 percent of the average monthly wage
 in the state as computed under RCW 51.08.018 plus an additional ((ten
 dollars)) $10 per month if the worker is married and an additional
 ((ten dollars)) $10 per month for each child of the worker up to a
 maximum of five children. However, if the monthly payment computed
 under this subsection (9)(b) is greater than ((one hundred)) 100
 percent of the wages of the worker as determined under RCW 51.08.178,
 the monthly payment due to the worker shall be equal to the greater
 of the monthly wages of the worker or the minimum benefit set forth
 in this section on June 30, 2008.
     (10) If the supervisor of industrial insurance determines that
 the worker is voluntarily retired and is no longer attached to the
 workforce, benefits shall not be paid under this section.
     (11) The department shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
 this section.
                                             p. 6               HB 1927.SL
     Sec. 2.   RCW 51.32.090 and 2023 c 171 s 7 are each amended to
 read as follows:
     (1) When the total disability is only temporary, the schedule of
 payments contained in RCW 51.32.060 (1) and (2) shall apply, so long
 as the total disability continues.
     (2) Any compensation payable under this section for children not
 in the custody of the injured worker as of the date of injury shall
 be payable only to such person as actually is providing the support
 for such child or children pursuant to the order of a court of record
 providing for support of such child or children.
     (3)(a) As soon as recovery is so complete that the present
 earning power of the worker, at any kind of work, is restored to that
 existing at the time of the occurrence of the injury, the payments
 shall cease. If and so long as the present earning power is only
 partially restored, the payments shall:
     (i) For claims for injuries that occurred before May 7, 1993,
 continue in the proportion which the new earning power shall bear to
 the old; or
     (ii) For claims for injuries occurring on or after May 7, 1993,
 equal ((eighty)) 80 percent of the actual difference between the
 worker's present wages and earning power at the time of injury, but: