Passed by the House February 18, 2020 Yeas 97 Nays 0
Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate March 6, 2020 Yeas 48 Nays 0
President of the Senate | CERTIFICATE I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2758 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth.
Chief Clerk Chief Clerk |
Approved | FILED |
| Secretary of State State of Washington |
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2758
Passed Legislature - 2020 Regular Session
State of Washington | 66th Legislature | 2020 Regular Session |
ByHouse Labor & Workplace Standards (originally sponsored by Representatives Corry, Pettigrew, Chandler, Davis, Eslick, McCaslin, Dent, Morgan, Gildon, Lekanoff, and Pollet)
READ FIRST TIME 02/07/20.
AN ACT Relating to recognizing posttraumatic stress disorders of 911 emergency dispatch personnel; and amending RCW
51.08.142.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW
51.08.142 and 2018 c 264 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the department shall adopt a rule pursuant to chapter
34.05 RCW that claims based on mental conditions or mental disabilities caused by stress do not fall within the definition of occupational disease in RCW
51.08.140.
(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) and (c) of this subsection, the rule adopted under subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to occupational disease claims resulting from posttraumatic stress disorders of firefighters as defined in RCW
41.26.030((
(16)))
(17) (a), (b), (c), and (h) and firefighters, including supervisors, employed on a full-time, fully compensated basis as a firefighter of a private sector employer's fire department that includes over fifty such firefighters, and law enforcement officers as defined in RCW
41.26.030((
(18)))
(19) (b), (c), and (e)
, and public safety telecommunicators who receive calls for assistance and dispatch emergency services.
(b) For firefighters as defined in RCW
41.26.030((
(16)))
(17) (a), (b), (c), and (h) and firefighters, including supervisors, employed on a full-time, fully compensated basis as a firefighter of a private sector employer's fire department that includes over fifty such firefighters, and law enforcement officers as defined in RCW
41.26.030((
(18)))
(19) (b), (c), and (e) hired after June 7, 2018,
and public safety telecommunicators hired after the effective date of this section, (a) of this subsection only applies if the firefighter or law enforcement officer
or public safety telecommunicators, as a condition of employment, has submitted to a psychological examination administered by a psychiatrist licensed in the state of Washington under chapter
18.71 RCW or a psychologist licensed in the state of Washington under chapter
18.83 RCW that ruled out the presence of posttraumatic stress disorder from preemployment exposures. If the employer does not provide the psychological examination, (a) of this subsection applies.
(c) Posttraumatic stress disorder for purposes of this subsection (2) is not considered an occupational disease if the disorder is directly attributed to disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, termination, or similar action taken in good faith by an employer.
(d) "Public safety telecommunicators" means individuals who receive and respond to telephone or other electronic requests for emergency assistance, such as law enforcement, fire, and medical services, and dispatch appropriate emergency responders.
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