5503-S AMH CL CORD 1

SSB 5503 - H COMM AMD ADOPTED 4-9-93

By Committee on Commerce & Labor

     On page 1, beginning on line 14, strike all of subsection (3) and insert the following:

     "(3)(a) As soon as recovery is so complete that the present earning power of the worker, at any kind of work, is restored to that existing at the time of the occurrence of the injury, the payments shall cease.  If and so long as the present earning power is only partially restored, the payments shall:

(i) For claims for injuries that occurred before the effective date of this act, continue in the proportion which the new earning power shall bear to the old; or

(ii) For claims for injuries occurring on or after the effective date of this act, equal eighty percent of the actual difference between the worker's present wages and earning power at the time of injury, but: (A) The total of these payments and the worker's present wages may not exceed one hundred fifty percent of the average monthly wage in the state as computed under RCW 51.08.018; (B) the payments may not exceed one hundred percent of the entitlement as computed under subsection (1) of this section; and  (C) the payments may not be less than the worker would have received if (a)(i) of this subsection had been applicable to the worker's claim.

(b)  No compensation shall be payable under this subsection (3) unless the loss of earning power shall exceed five percent."

EFFECT:  Adds a provision that loss of earning power payments for an injured worker who is subject to the new formula may not be less than the worker would have received under the old formula, and makes technical changes.