BILL NUMBER: AB 1746 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE JULY 3, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MAY 15, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 20, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Alejo
FEBRUARY 14, 2014
An act to amend Section 5502 of the Labor Code, relating to
workers' compensation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1746, Alejo. Workers' compensation: proceedings: expedited
hearings.
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system to
compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or
her employment. Under this system, the Workers' Compensation Appeals
Board has jurisdiction to adjudicate claims relating to workers'
compensation. Existing law creates the Administrative Director of the
Division of Workers' Compensation, who has specified powers and
duties relating to the workers' compensation trial process. Existing
law requires the administrative director to establish a priority
conference calendar for cases in which the employee is represented by
an attorney and the disputed issues are employment or injury, as
specified.
This bill would additionally require that cases in which the
employee is or was employed by an illegally uninsured employer and
the disputed issues are employment or injury, as specified, be placed
on the priority conference calendar established under existing law.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 5502 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
5502. (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (d), the
hearing shall be held not less than 10 days, and not more than 60
days, after the date a declaration of readiness to proceed, on a form
prescribed by the appeals board, is filed. If a claim form has been
filed for an injury occurring on or after January 1, 1990, and before
January 1, 1994, an application for adjudication shall accompany the
declaration of readiness to proceed.
(b) The administrative director shall establish a priority
calendar for issues requiring an expedited hearing and decision. A
hearing shall be held and a determination as to the rights of the
parties shall be made and filed within 30 days after the declaration
of readiness to proceed is filed if the issues in dispute are any of
the following, provided that if an expedited hearing is requested, no
other issue may be heard until the medical provider network dispute
is resolved:
(1) The employee's entitlement to medical treatment pursuant to
Section 4600, except for treatment issues determined pursuant to
Sections 4610 and 4610.5.
(2) Whether the injured employee is required to obtain treatment
within a medical provider network.
(3) A medical treatment appointment or medical-legal examination.
(4) The employee's entitlement to, or the amount of, temporary
disability indemnity payments.
(5) The employee's entitlement to compensation from one or more
responsible employers when two or more employers dispute liability as
among themselves.
(6) Any other issues requiring an expedited hearing and
determination as prescribed in rules and regulations of the
administrative director.
(c) The administrative director shall establish a priority
conference calendar for cases in which the employee is represented by
an attorney or is or was employed by an illegally uninsured employer
and the issues in dispute are employment or injury arising out of
employment or in the course of employment. The conference shall be
conducted by a workers' compensation administrative law judge within
30 days after the declaration of readiness to proceed. If the dispute
cannot be resolved at the conference, a trial shall be set as
expeditiously as possible, unless good cause is shown why discovery
is not complete, in which case status conferences shall be held at
regular intervals. The case shall be set for trial when discovery is
complete, or when the workers' compensation administrative law judge
determines that the parties have had sufficient time in which to
complete reasonable discovery. A determination as to the rights of
the parties shall be made and filed within 30 days after the trial.
(d) (1) In all cases, a mandatory settlement conference, except a
lien conference or a mandatory settlement lien conference, shall be
conducted not less than 10 days, and not more than 30 days, after the
filing of a declaration of readiness to proceed. If the dispute is
not resolved, the regular hearing, except a lien trial, shall be held
within 75 days after the declaration of readiness to proceed is
filed.
(2) The settlement conference shall be conducted by a workers'
compensation administrative law judge or by a referee who is eligible
to be a workers' compensation administrative law judge or eligible
to be an arbitrator under Section 5270.5. At the mandatory settlement
conference, the referee or workers' compensation administrative law
judge shall have the authority to resolve the dispute, including the
authority to approve a compromise and release or issue a stipulated
finding and award, and if the dispute cannot be resolved, to frame
the issues and stipulations for trial. The appeals board shall adopt
any regulations needed to implement this subdivision. The presiding
workers' compensation administrative law judge shall supervise
settlement conference referees in the performance of their judicial
functions under this subdivision.
(3) If the claim is not resolved at the mandatory settlement
conference, the parties shall file a pretrial conference statement
noting the specific issues in dispute, each party's proposed
permanent disability rating, and listing the exhibits, and disclosing
witnesses. Discovery shall close on the date of the mandatory
settlement conference. Evidence not disclosed or obtained thereafter
shall not be admissible unless the proponent of the evidence can
demonstrate that it was not available or could not have been
discovered by the exercise of due diligence prior to the settlement
conference.
(e) In cases involving the Director of Industrial Relations in his
or her capacity as administrator of the Uninsured Employers Fund,
this section shall not apply unless proof of service, as specified in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 3716, has been filed
with the appeals board and provided to the Director of Industrial
Relations, valid jurisdiction has been established over the employer,
and the fund has been joined.
(f) Except as provided in subdivision (a), this section shall
apply irrespective of the date of injury.