NU Online News Service, Sept. 7, 1:39 p.m. EST

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones is urging Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill that requires insures to notify an employer when it intends to use arbitration to resolve workers' compensation disputes.

The state legislature has passed SB 684, sponsored by the California Department of Insurance and authored by Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro.

“This bill will create an important protection for California's employers by no longer allowing insurers to force businesses, small and large, to arbitrate out of state without their foreknowledge and consent,” says Jones in a statement. “SB 684 will ensure that both employers and insurers freely and mutually agree to terms of the workers' compensation policy.”

Jones says that insurers were requiring terms for arbitration to take place out of state under another state's laws to gain the advantage in arbitration disputes. Now employers must be notified of this, and they must sign off on a disclosure to indicate they understand and accept the terms. Or, employers can elect to resolve arbitration disputes under California law.

If signed, SB 684 will take effect for workers' compensation policies issued or renewed as of July 1, 2012.

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Calif. Commissioner: Sign Workers&rsquo; Comp Arbitration Bill

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