By Jeanne Kuang

WHAT THE BILL WOULD DO

Authored by Sen. Dave Cortese, a Campbell Democrat, SB 1299 would make it easier for farmworkers to make a workers’ compensation claim for heat illness. Under the current system a worker can get covered for any workplace injury — whether it’s their employer’s fault or not — if they can prove the injury was connected to the job. Benefits include payments for medical care, lost wages or death benefits for the family. For certain injuries in certain industries, workers claiming benefits get a “presumption” (legalese for a fast-track to approval) that their injury was work-related — firefighters who develop cancer, for example, because of how often they are exposed to carcinogens in burning buildings. The bill gives a similar, though narrower, presumption to farmworkers claiming heat illness by allowing them to more easily link the injury to their job, specifically in cases in which the employer was not following state safety rules for those who work outside in the heat. 

WHO SUPPORTS IT

The bill is sponsored by the United Farm Workers and has support from labor groups and attorneys who represent injured workers in workers’ compensation claims. The United Farm Workers say the bill can put financial pressure on employers to comply with the heat rules, in the absence of more robust state enforcement.

WHO IS OPPOSED

Farming groups oppose the bill, as well as workers’ compensation insurance carriers and broader business groups such as the California Chamber of Commerce. Business groups say the bill unfairly mixes workplace safety regulations with workers’ compensation insurance rules, and worry it could put employers on the hook for heat cases that are not work-related. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Heat waves in California are growing longer and more intense, but workers’ advocates say many employers still do not follow the state’s nearly two-decade-old outdoor work heat rules  that require growers, farm labor contractors, construction site supervisors and others to provide shade, breaks and water and to monitor their workers for heat illness. The challenge is compounded by an understaffed state workplace safety agency; CalMatters reported in August that the agency’s enforcement of heat rules has declined significantly since 2019 despite the increasing risks of extreme heat. 

GOVERNOR’S CALL ❌

Newsom announced Sept. 28 he had vetoed the bill. In his veto message, he wrote the enforcement of heat safety rules should be done only by the state’s workplace safety agency, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) and not be determined by the workers’ compensation system.