_______________________________________________
SENATE
BILL 6353
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Passed
Legislature - 1998 Regular Session
State
of Washington 55th Legislature 1998 Regular Session
By
Read
first time 01/16/98. Referred to Committee on Government Operations.
Reflecting actual working hours for disability of
Washington state patrol officers.
AN
ACT Relating to use of sick leave before eligibility for disability
requirements of Washington state patrol officers; and amending RCW 43.43.040.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
43.43.040 and 1987 c 185 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The chief of the Washington state patrol shall relieve from active duty
Washington state patrol officers who, while in the performance of their official
duties, or while on standby or available for duty, have been or hereafter may
be injured or incapacitated to such an extent as to be mentally or physically
incapable of active service: PROVIDED, That:
(a)
Any officer disabled while performing line duty who is found by the chief to be
physically incapacitated shall be placed on disability leave for a period not
to exceed six months from the date of injury or the date incapacitated. During
this period, the officer shall be entitled to all pay, benefits, insurance,
leave, and retirement contributions awarded to an officer on active status,
less any compensation received through the department of labor and industries.
No such disability leave shall be approved until an officer has been
unavailable for duty for more than ((five)) forty consecutive
work ((days)) hours. Prior to the end of the six-month period,
the chief shall either place the officer on disability status or return the
officer to active status.
For
the purposes of this section, "line duty" is active service which
encompasses the traffic law enforcement duties and/or other law enforcement
responsibilities of the state patrol. These activities encompass all
enforcement practices of the laws, accident and criminal investigations, or
actions requiring physical exertion or exposure to hazardous elements.
The
chief shall define by rule the situations where a disability has occurred
during line duty;
(b)
Benefits under this section for a disability that is incurred while in other
employment will be reduced by any amount the officer receives or is entitled to
receive from workers' compensation, social security, group insurance, other
pension plan, or any other similar source provided by another employer on
account of the same disability;
(c)
An officer injured while engaged in willfully tortious or criminal
conduct shall not be entitled to disability benefits under this section; and
(d)
Should a disability beneficiary whose disability was not incurred in line of
duty, prior to attaining age fifty, engage in a gainful occupation, the chief
shall reduce the amount of his retirement allowance to an amount which when
added to the compensation earned by him in such occupation shall not exceed the
basic salary currently being paid for the rank the retired officer held at the
time he was disabled. All such disability beneficiaries under age fifty shall
file with the chief every six months a signed and sworn statement of earnings
and any person who shall knowingly swear falsely on such statement shall be subject
to prosecution for perjury. Should the earning capacity of such beneficiary be
further altered, the chief may further alter his disability retirement
allowance as indicated above. The failure of any officer to file the required
statement of earnings shall be cause for cancellation of retirement benefits.
(2)
Officers on disability status shall receive one-half of their compensation at
the existing wage, during the time the disability continues in effect, less any
compensation received through the department of labor and industries. They
shall be subject to mental or physical examination at any state institution or
otherwise under the direction of the chief of the patrol at any time during
such relief from duty to ascertain whether or not they are able to resume
active duty.
Passed the Senate February 12, 1998.
Passed the House March 3, 1998.
Approved by the Governor
March 27, 1998.
Filed
in Office of Secretary of State March 27, 1998.
