California lawmakers are seeking to resolve a conflict over how much injured workers should receive for various injuries.
Alicia Dlugosh, a spokesperson for California State Senate President pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said the senator is "committed to fixing" the current workers' compensation disability schedule "by the end of the year."
The schedule is used to determine how much a worker should receive for their injuries, based on their level of impairment. The schedule was a major focus of reform efforts in recent years, as critics said the system had previously been too subjective and resulted in workers with similar injuries being rated at widely varying levels of impairment.
Under the new ratings schedule, which took effect for injuries on or after January 1, 2005, the ratings provide medical-based criteria to determine the level of disability based on the extent of the injuries, the type of work the individual is employed in, and the age of the employee.
Opponents of the workers' comp reforms say that the new disability schedule has significantly cut benefits to injured workers.
Peggy Sugarman, executive director of the group VotersInjuredatWork.org, said a recent report from the state Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation showed that benefits decreased by an average of 51 percent under the new schedule.
According to Ms. Dlugosh, Sen. Perata's efforts are being made in cooperation with the speaker of the state Assembly, as well as with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Sen. Perata has introduced legislation to fix the disability schedule, although Ms. Dlugosh said it was a "blank bill" designed to meet the deadline for senators to introduce legislation while leaving room for the specifies of the legislation to be worked out at a later date.
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