HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 345

BYRepresentatives R. King,  Patrick, Wang, Chandler and McMullen; by request of Joint Select Committee on Industrial Insurance

Revising provisions relating to reimbursement of self-insured employers' funds.

House Committe on Commerce & Labor

Majority Report:     Do pass.  (10)

     Signed by Representatives Wang, Chair; Cole, Vice Chair; Fisch, Fisher, R. King, Patrick, Sanders, Sayan, C. Smith and Walker.

House Staff:Chris Cordes (786-7117)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE & LABOR FEBRUARY 26, 1987

BACKGROUND:

Some self-insured employers and employees have collective bargaining agreements that authorize workers' compensation payments to be made to the employees from the employer's sickness and accident fund when there is a delay in authorization of the payments from the employer's workers' compensation fund.  For example, in a reopening case, the employee may wait several weeks or months for the claim to be reopened by the Department of Labor and Industries.  In the meantime, the employee receives benefits from the sickness and accident fund.

After the claim has been reopened, the employer is required to issue the amount of compensation calculated for the workers' compensation benefits to the employee.  Under the collective bargaining agreement, the employee must reimburse the employer's sickness and accident fund. However, except for a few specified exceptions, industrial insurance law prohibits all voluntary assignments of workers' compensation benefits.

SUMMARY:

A self-insured employer is permitted to withhold from workers' compensation benefits the amount of any disability payments made to the employee from the employer's sickness and accident fund when such reimbursement is authorized by a collective bargaining agreement.

Fiscal Note:    Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:     John Winney, Injured Workers' Awareness Committee; and Joe Albo, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association.

Neutral:  Joe Dear, Department of Labor and Industries.

House Committee - Testified Against: None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:     Employers should be allowed to reimburse their sickness and accident funds when a collective bargaining agreement provides for the reimbursement as a result of paying workers' compensation benefits.  This allows workers to get earlier payment of compensation when there are administrative delays.

House Committee - Testimony Against: None Presented.