Managing Employee Injuries and Disability and Occupational Safety

5. I NFORMATION AND A SSISTANCE B UREAU The information and assistance officer’s duties include providing workers’ compensation information, resolving benefit disputes informally, monitoring payment of workers’ compensation benefits, and auditing and enforcing the rules and regulations. Labor Code Section 5451. 6. I NFORMATION AND A SSISTANCE O FFICER The Administrative Director is mandated by statute to provide for personnel and a program for information to employers, employees and the public. The Director is to adopt rules and regulations establishing informal procedures for assisting parties in resolving cases. The Information and Assistance Officer may make recommendations which are served on the parties or their representatives. An employee’s submission of a claim to the Officer tolls any applicable statute of limitations until 60 days after the issuance of the Officer’s recommendation. a. Uninsured Employers’ Benefits Trust Fund The Legislature established the Uninsured Employers’ Fund to ensure that workers who happen to be employed by illegally uninsured employers are not deprived of workers’ compensation benefits. The fund is created in the State Treasury and is continually appropriated. Labor Code Section 3716. The Fund can pursue an illegally uninsured employer to recover benefits which the Fund paid to an employee. b. Subsequent Injuries Workers’ Account To facilitate the rehabilitation and encourage employment of handicapped workers, thereby preventing them from becoming public charges, the legislature created the Subsequent Injuries Fund. The fund is financed from the State Treasury through a revolving fund payable to the State Compensation Insurance Fund. Labor Code Section 4750-4755. The Fund is also financed through the payment of death benefits when an employee who dies due to an industrial injury leaves no dependents. c. Asbestos Workers’ Account In 1980 the Legislature declared it to be state policy that qualified asbestos workers suffering from asbestosis be able to recover temporary disability and medical benefits promptly. Accordingly, the new Asbestos Workers’ Account was empowered to make payments as advances under certain specified conditions. Labor Code Sections 4401-4411. 7. W ORKERS ’ C OMPENSATION A PPEALS B OARD The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board is composed of seven commissioners, five of whom must be experienced attorneys admitted to practice in California. Labor Code Sections 111-112. The commissioners of the Appeals Board are appointed for six year terms by the governor and receive a salary equivalent to that of a Superior Court Judge. Labor Code Section 112.

Managing Employee Injuries, Disability and Occupational Safety ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 11