FINAL BILL REPORT

                   SB 6353

                          C 194 L 98

                      Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Reflecting actual working hours for disability of Washington state patrol officers.

Sponsors:  Senators Sellar and Goings; by request of Washington State Patrol.

Senate Committee on Transportation

House Committee on Transportation Policy & Budget

Background:  Under current law, a commissioned officer of the Washington State Patrol can qualify for temporary disability leave.  While on temporary disability, the officer no longer needs to use sick leave to cover the period of absence.  To qualify, the officer must be unavailable for duty for more than five consecutive work days due to a disabling injury suffered while on duty.  The length of a work day can vary between eight and 12 hours depending upon an officer=s assignment.  Because of the variance in the length of a work day, the amount of sick leave an officer must use before qualifying for temporary disability can vary.

For instance, an officer assigned to ten-hour shifts would have to utilize 50 hours of sick leave (five ten-hour days) prior to qualifying for temporary disability leave.  In contrast, an officer assigned to eight-hours shifts would only need to use 40 hours of sick leave in order to qualify.

Summary:  Disability leave may be approved after a State Patrol officer has been unavailable for duty for 40 work hours.  The number of work days that an officer has to be absent before being eligible to qualify for temporary disability varies depending upon the officer=s assigned shift.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate 48 0

House     97 0

Effective:  June 11, 1998