Following two public hearings on the proposed regulations which took place on December 8, 2014 in Oakland, and December 9, 2014, in Los Angeles, the Department of Industrial Relations has made revisions to the proposed California Code of Regulations to implement the Return to Work Supplement Program. Members of the public are invited to present written comments regarding the proposed modifications to LC139.48@dir.ca.gov until 5 p.m., April 1, 2015.

Diane Worley, the Director of Policy Implementation from the California Applicants’ Attorneys Association was present at the Northern California hearing, along with her colleague, Bert Arnold, who is President-Elect of the California Applicants’ Attorneys Association. According to the Northern California transcript, he was concerned that the Notice to Injured Workers is on the sixth page of the Voucher notice and would not likely be read and understood by the Injured worker. He suggested that the notice be moved to page 1 or to a cover letter. He was also concerned that there was nothing in the regulations to have the notices written in Spanish.

According to the transcript of the Southern California hearing, Robert McLaughlin, an attorney representing injured workers in San Diego, and a member of the California Applicant Attorney’s Association presented comments on December 9. He was concerned that there would be approximately three years of back-payments by the time applicants start getting paid. He also was concerned about the limited notice that would be given to applicants after their injuries, and that the application should be filled out on-line.

Christel Schoenfelder. an applicant attorney, and also a representative of the California Applicant Attorney’s Association presented an example of a worker who qualifies for the benefits, and who has now settled her underlying case due to lack of funds, yet now several years after SB 863 there is still no process in place for her to get this benefit. The statute of limitations starts to run on these claimants one year after the regulations take effect, and she is concerned that these claimants will never be notified since their cases are settled and closed.

Brent Graham on behalf of Latino Comp pointed out that current supplement job displacement benefit requirement, requiring the Return-to-Work form that has to be filled out by medical professionals at the time the worker is permanent stationary is not being filled out by “the vast majority of treating doctors” and thus is an impediment to obtaining benefits. .

The new proposed regulations in section 17303 now require “a cover sheet prepared by the claims administrator” that summarizes the Return to Work Supplement claim process apparently in response to the comments made by Bert Arnold.

The notice, revised initial statement of reasons, and modified text of the proposed regulations can be found on the DIR website.