2017 -- H 6224 SUBSTITUTE A

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WORKERS' COMPENSATION--

BENEFITS

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Craven, McKiernan, Casimiro, Vella-Wilkinson, and
Regunberg

     Date Introduced: May 17, 2017

     Referred To: House Labor

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Section 28-33-18.3 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-33 entitled

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"Workers' Compensation - Benefits" is hereby amended to read as follows:

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     28-33-18.3. Continuation of benefits -- Partial incapacity.

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     (a) (1) For all injuries occurring on or after September 1, 1990, in those cases where the

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employee has received a notice of intention to terminate partial-incapacity benefits pursuant to §

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28-33-18, the employee, or his or her duly authorized representative, may file with the workers'

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compensation court a petition for continuation of benefits on forms prescribed by the workers'

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compensation court. In any proceeding before the workers' compensation court on a petition for

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continuation of partial-incapacity benefits, where the employee demonstrates by a fair

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preponderance of the evidence that his or her partial incapacity poses a material hindrance to

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obtaining employment suitable to his or her limitation, partial-incapacity benefits shall continue.

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For injuries on and after July 1, 2023, "material hindrance" is defined to include only

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compensable injuries causing a greater than sixty-five percent (65%) degree of functional

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impairment and/or disability. Any period of time for which the employee has received benefits

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for total incapacity shall not be included in the calculation of the three hundred and twelve-week

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(312) period.

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     (2) The provisions of this subsection apply to all injuries from Sept. 1, 1990, to July 1,

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2023.

 

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     (b) (1) Where any employee's incapacity is partial and has extended for more than three

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hundred and twelve (312) weeks and the employee has proved an entitlement to continued

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benefits under subsection (a), payments made to these incapacitated employees shall be increased

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annually on the tenth (10th) day of May thereafter so long as the employee remains incapacitated.

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The increase shall be by an amount equal to the total percentage increase in the annual Consumer

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Price Index, United States City Average for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, as

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formulated and computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of

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Labor for the period of March 1 to February 28 each year.

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     (2) "Index", as used in this section, refers to the Consumer Price Index, United States

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City Average for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, as that index was formulated and

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computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor.

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     (3) The annual increase shall be based upon the percentage increase, if any, in the

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Consumer Price Index for the month of a given year, over the index for February the previous

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year. Thereafter, increases shall be made on May 10 annually, based upon the percentage

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increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for the period of March 1 to February 28.

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     (4) The computations in this section shall be made by the director of labor and training

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and promulgated to insurers and employers making payments required by this section. Increases

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shall be paid by insurers and employers without further order of the court. If payment payable

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under this section is not mailed within fourteen (14) days after the employer or insurer has been

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notified by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the state it becomes due, there

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shall be added to the unpaid payment an amount equal to twenty percent (20%) of it, to be paid at

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the same time as, but in addition to, the payment.

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     (5) This section applies only to payment of weekly indemnity benefits to employees as

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described in subdivision (b)(1) and does not apply to specific compensation payments for loss of

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use or disfigurement or payment of dependency benefits or any other benefits payable under the

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workers' compensation act.

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     (c) No petitions for commutation shall be allowed or entertained in those cases where an

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employee is receiving benefits pursuant to this section.

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     SECTION 2. Sections 28-53-2 and 28-53-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-53

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entitled "Rhode Island Uninsured Employers Fund" are hereby amended to read as follows:

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     28-53-2. Establishment -- Sources -- Administration.

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     (a) There shall be established within the department of labor and training a special

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restricted receipt account to be known as the Rhode Island uninsured employers fund. The fund

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shall be capitalized from excise taxes assessed against uninsured employers pursuant to the

 

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provisions of § 28-53-9 of this chapter and from general revenues appropriated by the legislature.

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Beginning in state fiscal year ending June 30, 2017 June 30, 2018, the legislature may appropriate

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up to two million dollars ($2,000,000) in general revenue funds annually for deposit into the

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Rhode Island uninsured employers fund.

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     (b) All moneys in the fund shall be mingled and undivided. The fund shall be

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administered by the director of the department of labor and training, or his or her designee, but in

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no case shall the director incur any liability beyond the amounts paid into and earned by the fund.

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     (c) All amounts owed to the uninsured employers fund from illegally uninsured

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employers are intended to be excise taxes and as such, all ambiguities and uncertainties are to be

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resolved in favor of a determination that such assessments are excise taxes.

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     28-53-7. Payments to employees of uninsured employers.

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     (a) Where it is determined that the employee was injured in the course of employment

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while working for an employer who fails to maintain a policy of workers' compensation insurance

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as required by § 28-36-1 et seq., the uninsured employers fund shall pay the benefits to which the

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injured employee would be entitled pursuant to chapters 29 to 38 of this title subject to the

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limitations set forth herein.

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     (b) The workers' compensation court shall hear all petitions for payment from the fund

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pursuant to § 28-30-1 et seq.; provided, however, that the uninsured employers fund and the

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employer shall be named as parties to any petition seeking payment of benefits from the fund.

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     (c) Where an employee is deemed to be entitled to benefits from the uninsured employers

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fund, the fund shall pay benefits for disability and medical expenses as provided pursuant to

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chapters 29 to 38 of this title except that the employee shall not be entitled to receive benefits for

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loss of function and disfigurement pursuant to the provisions of § 28-33-19.

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     (d) The fund shall pay cost, counsel, and witness fees, as provided in § 28-35-32, to any

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employee who successfully prosecutes any petitions for compensation; petitions for medical

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expenses; petitions to amend a pretrial order or memorandum of agreement; and all other

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employee petitions; and to employees who successfully defend, in whole or in part, proceedings

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seeking to reduce or terminate any and all workers' compensation benefits; provided, however,

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that the attorney's fees awarded to counsel who represent the employee in petitions for lump-sum

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commutation filed pursuant to § 28-33-25, or in the settlement of disputed cases pursuant to § 28-

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33-25.1, shall be limited to the maximum amount paid to counsel who serve as court-appointed

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attorneys in workers' compensation proceedings as established by rule or order of the Rhode

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Island supreme court.

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     (e) In the event that the uninsured employer makes payment of any monies to the

 

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employee to compensate the employee for lost wages or medical expenses, the fund shall be

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entitled to a credit for all such monies received by, or on behalf of, the employee against any

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future benefits payable directly to the employee.

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     (f) This section shall apply to injuries that occur on or after July 1, 2017 July 1, 2018.

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     SECTION 3. The title of Chapter 28-38 of the General Laws entitled "Dr. John E. Donley

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Rehabilitation Center" is hereby amended to read as follows:

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CHAPTER 28-38

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Dr. John E. Donley Rehabilitation Center

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CHAPTER 28-38

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CHIEF JUDGE ROBERT F. ARRIGAN REHABILITATION CENTER

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     SECTION 4. Sections 28-38-23 and 28-38-24 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-38

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entitled "Dr. John E. Donley Rehabilitation Center" are hereby amended to read as follows:

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     28-38-23. Name change.

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     The name of the curative centre in the department shall be the Dr. John E. Donley Chief

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Judge Robert F. Arrigan rehabilitation center.

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     28-38-24. Reference to curative centre.

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     Wherever in any existing law reference is made to the curative centre, and wherever in an

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existing law the term "state curative centre" or "curative centre" or "the centre," "the Donley

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Center" or "the Dr. John E. Donley Rehabilitation Center", as variously used, refers to the

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curative centre in the department, that reference and that term shall be deemed to have reference

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to the Dr. John E. Donley Chief Judge Robert F. Arrigan rehabilitation center.

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     SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WORKERS' COMPENSATION--

BENEFITS

***

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     This act would repeal the provisions of the workers' compensation law that provides that

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for injuries on and after July 1, 2023, "material hindrance" is defined to include only

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compensable injuries causing a greater than sixty-five percent (65%) degree of functional

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impairment and/or disability. The act would also change the name of the Donley Center to the

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Chief Judge Robert F. Arrigan rehabilitation center.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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