1653.E AMS LAB S5598.1

EHB 1653 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Labor & Commerce

    Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

    "Sec. 1.  RCW 51.32.095 and 1988 c 161 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) One of the primary purposes of this title is to enable the injured worker to become employable at gainful employment.  To this end, the department or self-insurers shall utilize the services of individuals and organizations, public or private, whose experience, training, and interests in vocational rehabilitation and retraining qualify them to lend expert assistance to the supervisor of industrial insurance in such programs of vocational rehabilitation as may be reasonable to make the worker employable consistent with his or her physical and mental status.  Where, after evaluation and recommendation by such individuals or organizations ((and prior to final evaluation of the worker's permanent disability)) and in the sole opinion of the supervisor or supervisor's designee, whether or not medical treatment has been concluded, vocational rehabilitation is both necessary and likely to enable the injured worker to become employable at gainful employment, the supervisor or supervisor's designee may, in his or her sole discretion, pay or, if the employer is a self-insurer, direct the self-insurer to pay the cost as provided in subsection (3) of this section.

    (2) When in the sole discretion of the supervisor or the supervisor's designee vocational rehabilitation is both necessary and likely to make the worker employable at gainful employment, then the following order of priorities shall be used:

    (a) Return to the previous job with the same employer;

    (b) Modification of the previous job with the same employer including transitional return to work;

    (c) A new job with the same employer in keeping with any limitations or restrictions;

    (d) Modification of a new job with the same employer including transitional return to work;

    (e) Modification of the previous job with a new employer;

    (f) A new job with a new employer or self-employment based upon transferable skills;

    (g) Modification of a new job with a new employer;

    (h) A new job with a new employer or self-employment involving on-the-job training;

    (i) Short-term retraining and job placement.

    (3) Costs for vocational rehabilitation benefits allowed by the supervisor or supervisor's designee under subsection (1) of this section may include the cost of books, tuition, fees, supplies, equipment, ((transportation, child or dependent care,)) and other necessary expenses for any such worker in an amount not to exceed ((three thousand dollars)) one hundred fifty-five percent of the average monthly wage in the state on the date of injury as computed under RCW 51.08.018 in any fifty-two week period, ((and)) the cost of continuing the temporary total disability compensation under RCW 51.32.090 while the worker is actively and successfully undergoing a formal program of vocational rehabilitation, and the cost of transportation and of child or dependent care related to the worker's participation in the vocational rehabilitation program.  Such expenses may include training fees for on-the-job training and the cost of furnishing tools and other equipment necessary for self-employment or reemployment((:  PROVIDED, That such)).  The department shall establish by rule allowable reimbursement rates for mileage and either child or dependent care, or both.  The compensation or payment of retraining with job placement expenses authorized under this section may not be authorized for a period of more than fifty-two weeks((:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That such)).  However, this period may, in the sole discretion of the supervisor after his or her review, be extended for an additional fifty-two weeks or portion thereof by written order of the supervisor.

    In cases where the worker is required to reside away from his or her customary residence, the reasonable cost of board and lodging shall also be paid.  ((Said)) The costs shall be chargeable to the employer's cost experience or shall be paid by the self-insurer as the case may be.

    (4) The department shall establish criteria to monitor the quality and effectiveness of rehabilitation services provided by the individuals and organizations used under subsection (1) of this section.  The state fund shall make referrals for vocational rehabilitation services based on these performance criteria.  Organizations to which referrals are made may include administrative entities of service delivery areas as established under the federal job training partnership act if the entities meet minimum standards established by the department.

    (5) The department shall engage in, where feasible and cost-effective, a cooperative program with the state employment security department to provide job placement services under this section.

    (6) The benefits in this section shall be provided for the injured workers of self-insured employers.  Self-insurers shall report both benefits provided and benefits denied under this section in the manner prescribed by the department by rule adopted under chapter 34.05 RCW.  The director may, in his or her sole discretion and upon his or her own initiative or at any time that a dispute arises under this section, promptly make such inquiries as circumstances require and take such other action as he or she considers will properly determine the matter and protect the rights of the parties.

    (7) The benefits provided for in this section are available to any otherwise eligible worker regardless of the date of industrial injury.  However, claims shall not be reopened solely for vocational rehabilitation purposes.

(8) Total expenditures authorized under this section for any fiscal year following the effective date may not exceed an amount equal to the amount authorized in fiscal year 1994, multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which is the total of claims filed under this title in fiscal year 1994, and the denominator is the number of claims filed in the fiscal year for which authorization is being determined.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 51.12 RCW to read as follows:

    A person who provides rehabilitation for injured workers in the form of on-the-job training or transitional work under this title may elect coverage under this title for the injured workers receiving the services, regardless of whether the person providing the services pays wages to the workers for the on-the-job training or transitional work program.  RCW  51.16.120(3) shall apply to the workers for whom coverage has been elected as authorized in this section.  For the purposes of this section, "person" means an individual, firm, corporation, partnership, trust, legal representative, or other legal entity.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  This act applies to claims filed on or after the effective date of this act."

EHB 1653 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Labor & Commerce

    On page 1, line 2 of the title, after "insurance;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "amending RCW 51.32.095; adding a new section to chapter 51.12 RCW; and creating a new section."

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