CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2127
Chapter 90, Laws of 2024
68th Legislature
2024 Regular Session
WORKERS' COMPENSATION—RETURN TO WORK
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2025
Passed by the House February 6, 2024 CERTIFICATE
Yeas 97 Nays 0
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
Representatives SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2127 as
passed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate on
the dates hereon set forth.
Passed by the Senate February 29,
2024
Yeas 46 Nays 0 BERNARD DEAN
Chief Clerk
DENNY HECK
President of the Senate
Approved March 14, 2024 11:23 AM FILED
March 14, 2024
Secretary of State
JAY INSLEE State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
 SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2127
Passed Legislature - 2024 Regular Session
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session
By House Labor & Workplace Standards (originally sponsored by
Representatives Schmidt, Berry, Leavitt, Reed, Ormsby, Graham, and
Pollet; by request of Department of Labor & Industries)
READ FIRST TIME 01/26/24.
1 AN ACT Relating to increasing incentives to return to work in
2 workers' compensation; amending RCW 51.32.090, 51.32.095, 51.32.096,
3 and 51.32.250; and providing an effective date.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
5 Sec. 1. RCW 51.32.090 and 2023 c 171 s 7 are each amended to
6 read as follows:
7 (1) When the total disability is only temporary, the schedule of
8 payments contained in RCW 51.32.060 (1) and (2) shall apply, so long
9 as the total disability continues.
10 (2) Any compensation payable under this section for children not
11 in the custody of the injured worker as of the date of injury shall
12 be payable only to such person as actually is providing the support
13 for such child or children pursuant to the order of a court of record
14 providing for support of such child or children.
15 (3)(a) As soon as recovery is so complete that the present
16 earning power of the worker, at any kind of work, is restored to that
17 existing at the time of the occurrence of the injury, the payments
18 shall cease. If and so long as the present earning power is only
19 partially restored, the payments shall:
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 1 (i) For claims for injuries that occurred before May 7, 1993,
2 continue in the proportion which the new earning power shall bear to
3 the old; or
4 (ii) For claims for injuries occurring on or after May 7, 1993,
5 equal ((eighty)) 80 percent of the actual difference between the
6 worker's present wages and earning power at the time of injury, but:
7 (A) The total of these payments and the worker's present wages may
8 not exceed ((one hundred fifty)) 150 percent of the average monthly
9 wage in the state as computed under RCW 51.08.018; (B) the payments
10 may not exceed ((one hundred)) 100 percent of the entitlement as
11 computed under subsection (1) of this section; and (C) the payments
12 may not be less than the worker would have received if (a)(i) of this
13 subsection had been applicable to the worker's claim.
14 (b) No compensation shall be payable under this subsection (3)
15 unless the loss of earning power shall exceed five percent.
16 (c) The prior closure of the claim or the receipt of permanent
17 partial disability benefits shall not affect the rate at which loss
18 of earning power benefits are calculated upon reopening the claim.
19 (4)(a) The legislature finds that long-term disability and the
20 cost of injuries is significantly reduced when injured workers remain
21 at work following their injury. To encourage employers at the time of
22 injury to provide light duty or transitional work for their workers,
23 wage subsidies and other incentives are made available to employers
24 insured with the department.
25 (b) Whenever the employer of injury requests that a worker who is
26 entitled to temporary total disability under this chapter be
27 certified by the attending provider as able to perform available work
28 other than his or her usual work, the employer shall furnish to the
29 attending provider, with a copy to the worker, a statement describing
30 the work available with the employer of injury in terms that will
31 enable the attending provider to relate the activities of the job to
32 the worker's disability. The attending provider shall then determine
33 whether the worker is able to perform the work described. The
34 worker's temporary total disability payments shall continue until the
35 worker is released by his or her attending provider for the work, and
36 begins the work with the employer of injury. If the work thereafter
37 comes to an end before the worker's recovery is sufficient in the
38 judgment of his or her attending provider to permit him or her to
39 return to his or her usual job, or to perform other available work
40 offered by the employer of injury, the worker's temporary total
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 1 disability payments shall be resumed. Should the available work
2 described, once undertaken by the worker, impede his or her recovery
3 to the extent that in the judgment of his or her attending provider
4 he or she should not continue to work, the worker's temporary total
5 disability payments shall be resumed when the worker ceases such
6 work.
7 (c) To further encourage employers to maintain the employment of
8 their injured workers, an employer insured with the department and
9 that offers work to a worker pursuant to this subsection (4) shall be
10 eligible for reimbursement of the injured worker's wages for light
11 duty or transitional work equal to ((fifty)) 50 percent of the basic,
12 gross wages paid for that work, for a maximum of ((sixty-six)) 120
13 workdays within a consecutive ((twenty-four)) 24-month period. In no
14 event may the wage subsidies paid to an employer on a claim exceed
15 ((ten thousand dollars)) $25,000. Wage subsidies shall be calculated
16 using the worker's basic hourly wages or basic salary, and no subsidy
17 shall be paid for any other form of compensation or payment to the
18 worker such as tips, commissions, bonuses, board, housing, fuel,
19 health care, dental care, vision care, per diem, reimbursements for
20 work-related expenses, or any other payments. An employer may not,
21 under any circumstances, receive a wage subsidy for a day in which
22 the worker did not actually perform any work, regardless of whether
23 or not the employer paid the worker wages for that day.
24 (d) If an employer insured with the department offers a worker
25 work pursuant to this subsection (4) and the worker must be provided
26 with training or instruction to be qualified to perform the offered
27 work, the employer shall be eligible for a reimbursement from the
28 department for any tuition, books, fees, and materials required for
29 that training or instruction, up to a maximum of ((one thousand
30 dollars)) $2,000. Reimbursing an employer for the costs of such
31 training or instruction does not constitute a determination by the
32 department that the worker is eligible for vocational services
33 authorized by RCW 51.32.095 ((and 51.32.099)).
34 (e) If an employer insured with the department offers a worker
35 work pursuant to this subsection (4), and the employer provides the
36 worker with clothing that is necessary to allow the worker to perform
37 the offered work, the employer shall be eligible for reimbursement
38 for such clothing from the department, up to a maximum of ((four
39 hundred dollars)) $1,000. However, an employer shall not receive
40 reimbursement for any clothing it provided to the worker that it
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 1 normally provides to its workers. The clothing purchased for the
2 worker shall become the worker's property once the work comes to an
3 end.
4 (f) If an employer insured with the department offers a worker
5 work pursuant to this subsection (4) and the worker must be provided
6 with tools or equipment to perform the offered work, the employer
7 shall be eligible for a reimbursement from the department for such
8 tools and equipment and related costs as determined by department
9 rule, up to a maximum of ((two thousand five hundred dollars))
10 $5,000. An employer shall not be reimbursed for any tools or
11 equipment purchased prior to offering the work to the worker pursuant
12 to this subsection (4). An employer shall not be reimbursed for any
13 tools or equipment that it normally provides to its workers. The
14 tools and equipment shall be the property of the employer.
15 (g) An employer may offer work to a worker pursuant to this
16 subsection (4) more than once, but in no event may the employer
17 receive wage subsidies for more than ((sixty-six)) 120 days of work
18 in a consecutive ((twenty-four)) 24-month period under one claim. An
19 employer may continue to offer work pursuant to this subsection (4)
20 after the worker has performed ((sixty-six)) 120 days of work, but
21 the employer shall not be eligible to receive wage subsidies for such
22 work.
23 (h) An employer shall not receive any wage subsidies or
24 reimbursement of any expenses pursuant to this subsection (4) unless
25 the employer has completed and submitted the reimbursement request on
26 forms developed by the department, along with all related information
27 required by department rules. No wage subsidy or reimbursement shall
28 be paid to an employer who fails to submit a form for such payment
29 within one year of the date the work was performed. In no event shall
30 an employer receive wage subsidy payments or reimbursements of any
31 expenses pursuant to this subsection (4) unless the worker's
32 attending provider has restricted him or her from performing his or
33 her usual work and the worker's attending provider has released him
34 or her to perform the work offered.
35 (i) Payments made under (b) through (g) of this subsection are
36 subject to penalties under RCW 51.32.240(5) in cases where the funds
37 were obtained through willful misrepresentation.
38 (j) Once the worker returns to work under the terms of this
39 subsection (4), he or she shall not be assigned by the employer to
40 work other than the available work described without the worker's
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 1 written consent, or without prior review and approval by the worker's
2 attending provider. An employer who directs a claimant to perform
3 work other than that approved by the attending provider and without
4 the approval of the worker's attending provider shall not receive any
5 wage subsidy or other reimbursements for such work.
6 (k) If the worker returns to work under this subsection (4), any
7 employee health and welfare benefits that the worker was receiving at
8 the time of injury shall continue or be resumed at the level provided
9 at the time of injury. Such benefits shall not be continued or
10 resumed if to do so is inconsistent with the terms of the benefit
11 program, or with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement
12 currently in force.
13 (l) In the event of any dispute as to the validity of the work
14 offered or as to the worker's ability to perform the available work
15 offered by the employer, the department shall make the final
16 determination pursuant to an order that contains the notice required
17 by RCW 51.52.060 and that is subject to appeal subject to RCW
18 51.52.050.
19 (5) An employer's experience rating shall not be affected by the
20 employer's request for or receipt of wage subsidies.
21 (6) The department shall create a Washington stay-at-work account
22 which shall be funded by assessments of employers insured through the
23 state fund for the costs of the payments authorized by subsection (4)
24 of this section ((and)), for the cost of creating a reserve for
25 anticipated liabilities, and for costs authorized in RCW
26 51.32.095(2). Employers may collect up to one-half the fund
27 assessment from workers.
28 (7) No worker shall receive compensation for or during the day on
29 which injury was received or the three days following the same,
30 unless his or her disability shall continue for a period of
31 ((fourteen)) 14 consecutive calendar days from date of injury:
32 PROVIDED, That attempts to return to work in the first ((fourteen))
33 14 days following the injury shall not serve to break the continuity
34 of the period of disability if the disability continues ((fourteen))
35 14 days after the injury occurs.
36 (8) Should a worker suffer a temporary total disability and
37 should his or her employer at the time of the injury continue to pay
38 him or her the wages which he or she was earning at the time of such
39 injury, such injured worker shall not receive any payment provided in
40 subsection (1) of this section during the period his or her employer
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 1 shall so pay such wages: PROVIDED, That holiday pay, vacation pay,
2 sick leave, or other similar benefits shall not be deemed to be
3 payments by the employer for the purposes of this subsection.
4 (9) In no event shall the monthly payments provided in this
5 section:
6 (a) Exceed the applicable percentage of the average monthly wage
7 in the state as computed under the provisions of RCW 51.08.018 as
8 follows:
9 AFTER PERCENTAGE
10 June 30, 1993 105%
11 June 30, 1994 110%
12 June 30, 1995 115%
13 June 30, 1996 120%
14 (b) For dates of injury or disease manifestation after July 1,
15 2008, be less than ((fifteen)) 15 percent of the average monthly wage
16 in the state as computed under RCW 51.08.018 plus an additional ((ten
17 dollars)) $10 per month if the worker is married and an additional
18 ((ten dollars)) $10 per month for each child of the worker up to a
19 maximum of five children. However, if the monthly payment computed
20 under this subsection (9)(b) is greater than ((one hundred)) 100
21 percent of the wages of the worker as determined under RCW 51.08.178,
22 the monthly payment due to the worker shall be equal to the greater
23 of the monthly wages of the worker or the minimum benefit set forth
24 in this section on June 30, 2008.
25 (10) If the supervisor of industrial insurance determines that
26 the worker is voluntarily retired and is no longer attached to the
27 workforce, benefits shall not be paid under this section.
28 (11) The department shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
29 this section.
30 Sec. 2. RCW 51.32.095 and 2023 c 171 s 8 are each amended to
31 read as follows:
32 (1) One of the primary purposes of this title is to enable the
33 injured worker to become employable at gainful employment. To this
34 end, the department or self-insurers must utilize the services of
35 individuals and organizations, public or private, whose experience,
36 training, and interests in vocational rehabilitation and retraining
37 qualify them to lend expert assistance to the supervisor of
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 1 industrial insurance in such programs of vocational rehabilitation as
2 may be reasonable to make the worker employable consistent with his
3 or her physical and mental status. Where, after evaluation and
4 recommendation by such individuals or organizations and prior to
5 final evaluation of the worker's permanent disability and in the sole
6 opinion of the supervisor or supervisor's designee, whether or not
7 medical treatment has been concluded, vocational rehabilitation is
8 both necessary and likely to enable the injured worker to become
9 employable at gainful employment, the supervisor or supervisor's
10 designee may, in his or her sole discretion, pay or, if the employer
11 is a self-insurer, direct the self-insurer to pay the cost as
12 provided in subsection (((5))) (6) of this section ((or RCW
13 51.32.099,)) as appropriate. An injured worker may not participate in
14 vocational rehabilitation under this section ((or RCW 51.32.099)) if
15 such participation would result in a payment of benefits as described
16 in RCW 51.32.240(5), and any benefits so paid must be recovered
17 according to the terms of that section.
18 (2)(a) To help injured workers maintain and build labor market
19 readiness skills during vocational services in the sole discretion of
20 the supervisor or supervisor's designee, funds may be payable to a