February 2019 saw the introduction of four new bills before the California legislature. Each bill seeks to expand the application of an existing presumptive work injury or to create a new class of employees who may avail themselves of the rebuttable presumption of injury.

• Assembly Bill 1400, sponsored by Assembly Member Kamlager Dove and introduced on February 22, 2019, proposes to expand the class of workers who may avail themselves of the rebuttable presumption that a cancer diagnosis is industrially related. Currently, Labor Code Section 3212.1 provides this presumption for “active firefighting members.” AB 1400 would redefine the class of covered workers as “fire service personnel with exposure to active fires or health hazards resulting from firefighting operations.” The presumption will still be rebuttable by evidence that the alleged carcinogen to which the member was exposed is not reasonably related to the disabling cancer.
• Senate Bill 542, sponsored by Senator Stern and introduced on February 22, 2019, would add Labor Code Section 3212.15 to establish for certain state and local firefighting personnel and peace officers a rebuttable presumption of injury to include a mental health condition or mental disability that results from a diagnosis of “post-traumatic stress or mental health disorder.”
• Senate Bill 567, sponsored by Senators Caballero and Skinner, and introduced on February 22, 2019, would add Sections 3212.13, 3212.14, 3212.15, 3212.16, and 3212.17 to the California Labor Code in order to provide to hospital employees the rebuttable presumption of industrial injury for cancer, infectious diseases (including but not limited to blood borne infectious diseases), musculoskeletal injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and respiratory diseases.
• Senate Bill 416, sponsored by Senator Hueso and introduced on February 20, 2019 proposes to amend Sections 3212, 3212.1, 3212.5, 3212.6, 3212.85, 3212.9, and 3213.2 of the California Labor Code in order to expand the availability of the rebuttable presumption of industrial injury for hernia, pneumonia, heart trouble, cancer, meningitis, and exposure to biochemical substances to cover local peace officers not currently covered by the statutes.

Boehm & Associates will keep you posted regarding the progress of these legislative initiatives, as well as any other legislation introduced which will impact workers’ compensation rights and responsibilities.