Substitute Senate Bill No. 210
Substitute Senate Bill No. 210
PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-104
AN ACT CONCERNING WORKERS' COMPENSATION DEATH
BENEFITS, COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS AND THE
SECOND INJURY FUND ADVISORY BOARD.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (a) Not later than thirty
days after the date an employer or insurer
discontinues paying weekly disability benefits to
an injured employee under the provisions of
chapter 568 of the general statutes due to the
death of the injured employee, the employer or
insurer shall send by registered or certified mail
to the last address to which the injured
employee's workers' compensation benefit checks
were mailed, a written notice stating, in simple
language, that dependents of the deceased employee
may be eligible for death benefits under chapter
568 of the general statutes, subject to the filing
and benefit eligibility requirements of said
chapter.
(b) Not later than October 1, 1998, the
chairman of the Workers' Compensation Commission
shall develop a standard form that may be used by
employers and insurers to provide the notice
required under subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The failure of an employer or insurer to
comply with the notice requirements of subsection
(a) of this section shall not excuse a dependent
of a deceased employee from making a claim for
compensation within the time limits prescribed by
subsection (a) of section 31-294c of the general
statutes unless the dependent of the deceased
employee demonstrates, in the opinion of the
commissioner, that he was prejudiced by such
failure to comply. Each dependent who, in the
opinion of the commissioner, demonstrates that he
was prejudiced by the failure of an employer or
insurer to comply with the notice requirements of
subsection (a) of this section shall be granted an
extension of time in which to file a notice of
claim for compensation with the deceased
employee's employer or insurer pursuant to section
31-294c of the general statutes, but such
extension shall not exceed the period of time
equal to the interim between the end of the thirty
day period set forth in subsection (a) of this
section and the date the notice required under
said subsection was actually mailed.
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 31-306 of
the general statutes, as amended by section 3 of
public act 97-205, is repealed and the following
is substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) Compensation shall be paid to dependents
on account of death resulting from an accident
arising out of and in the course of employment or
from an occupational disease as follows:
(1) Four thousand dollars shall be paid for
burial expenses in any case where the employee
died on or after October 1, 1988. If there is no
one wholly or partially dependent upon the
deceased employee, the burial expenses of four
thousand dollars shall be paid to the person who
assumes the responsibility of paying the funeral
expenses.
(2) To those wholly dependent upon the
deceased employee at the date of his injury, a
weekly compensation equal to seventy-five per cent
of the average weekly earnings of the deceased
calculated pursuant to section 31-310, after such
earnings have been reduced by any deduction for
federal or state taxes, or both, and for the
federal Insurance Contributions Act made from such
employee's total wages received during the period
of calculation of the employee's average weekly
wage pursuant to said section 31-310, as of the
date of the injury but not more than the maximum
weekly compensation rate set forth in section
31-309 for the year in which the injury occurred
or less than twenty dollars weekly. (A) The weekly
compensation rate of each dependent entitled to
receive compensation under this section as a
result of death arising from a compensable injury
occurring on or after October 1, 1977, shall be
adjusted annually as provided in this subdivision
as of the following October first, and each
subsequent October first, to provide the dependent
with a cost-of-living adjustment in his weekly
compensation rate as determined as of the date of
the injury under section 31-309. If the maximum
weekly compensation rate, as determined under the
provisions of said section 31-309, to be effective
as of any October first following the date of the
injury, is greater than the maximum weekly
compensation rate prevailing at the date of the
injury, the weekly compensation rate which the
injured employee was entitled to receive at the
date of the injury OR OCTOBER 1, 1990, WHICHEVER
IS LATER, shall be increased by the percentage of
the increase in the maximum weekly compensation
rate required by the provisions of said section
31-309 from the date of the injury OR OCTOBER 1,
1990, WHICHEVER IS LATER, to such October first.
The cost-of-living increases provided under this
subdivision shall be paid by the employer without
any order or award from the commissioner. The
adjustments shall apply to each payment made in
the next succeeding twelve-month period commencing
with the October first next succeeding the date of
the injury. With respect to any dependent
receiving benefits on the effective date of [this
act] PUBLIC ACT 97-205 with respect to any injury
occurring on or after July 1, 1993, and before the
effective date of [this act] PUBLIC ACT 97-205,
such benefit shall be recalculated to the
effective date of [this act] PUBLIC ACT 97-205 as
if such benefits had been subject to recalculation
annually under this subparagraph. The difference
between the amount of any benefits which would
have been paid to such dependent if such benefits
had been subject to such recalculation and the
actual amount of benefits paid during the period
between such injury and such recalculation shall
be paid to the dependent not later than December
1, 1997, in a lump-sum payment. The employer or
his insurer shall be reimbursed by the Second
Injury Fund, as provided in section 31-354, for
adjustments, including lump-sum payments, payable
under this subparagraph for deaths from
compensable injuries occurring on or after July 1,
1993, and before the effective date of [this act]
PUBLIC ACT 97-205, upon presentation of any
vouchers and information that the Treasurer shall
require. (B) The weekly compensation rate of each
dependent entitled to receive compensation under
this section as a result of death arising from a
compensable injury occurring on or before
September 30, 1977, shall be adjusted as of
October 1, 1977, and October 1, 1980, and
thereafter, as provided in this subdivision to
provide the dependent with partial cost-of-living
adjustments in his weekly compensation rate. As of
October 1, 1977, the weekly compensation rate paid
prior to October 1, 1977, to the dependent shall
be increased by twenty-five per cent. The partial
cost-of-living adjustment provided under this
subdivision shall be paid by the employer without
any order or award from the commissioner. In
addition, [as of October 1, 1980, and] on each
[subsequent] October first, the weekly
compensation rate of each dependent AS OF OCTOBER
1, 1990, shall be increased [to provide further
cost-of-living adjustments in his weekly
compensation rate. If the maximum weekly
compensation rate as determined under the
provisions of said section 31-309 existing on
October 1, 1977, to be effective as of any October
first following October 1, 1979, is greater than
the compensation rate prevailing on October 1,
1979, the weekly compensation rate shall be
increased] by the percentage of the increase in
the maximum compensation rate over the maximum
compensation rate of October 1, [1979] 1990, as
determined under the provisions of [said] section
31-309 existing on October 1, 1977. The cost of
the adjustments shall be paid by the employer or
his insurance carrier who shall be reimbursed
therefor from the Second Injury Fund as provided
in section 31-354 upon presentation of any
vouchers and information that the Treasurer shall
require.
(3) If the surviving spouse is the sole
presumptive dependent, compensation shall be paid
until death or remarriage.
(4) If there is a presumptive dependent spouse
surviving and also one or more presumptive
dependent children, all of which children are
either children of the surviving spouse or are
living with the surviving spouse, the entire
compensation shall be paid to the surviving spouse
in the same manner and for the same period as if
the surviving spouse were the sole dependent. If,
however, any of the presumptive dependent children
are neither children of the surviving spouse nor
living with the surviving spouse, the compensation
shall be divided into as many parts as there are
presumptive dependents. The shares of any children
having a presumptive dependent parent shall be
added to the share of the parent and shall be paid
to the parent. The share of any dependent child
not having a surviving dependent parent shall be
paid to the father or mother of the child with
whom the child may be living, or to the legal
guardian of the child, or to any other person, for
the benefit of the child, as the commissioner may
direct.
(5) If the compensation being paid to the
surviving presumptive dependent spouse terminates
for any reason, or if there is no surviving
presumptive dependent spouse at the time of the
death of the employee, but there is at either time
one or more presumptive dependent children, the
compensation shall be paid to the children as a
class, each child sharing equally with the others.
Each child shall receive compensation until the
child reaches the age of eighteen or dies before
reaching age eighteen, provided the child shall
continue to receive compensation up to the
attainment of the age of twenty-two if unmarried
and a full-time student, except any child who has
attained the age of twenty-two while a full-time
student but has not completed the requirements
for, or received, a degree from a postsecondary
educational institution shall be deemed not to
have attained age twenty-two until the first day
of the first month following the end of the
quarter or semester in which he is enrolled at the
time, or if he is not enrolled in a quarter or
semester system, until the first day of the first
month following the completion of the course in
which he is enrolled or until the first day of the
third month beginning after such time, whichever
occurs first. When a child's participation ceases,
his share shall be divided among the remaining
eligible dependent children, provided if any
child, when he reaches the age of eighteen years,
is physically or mentally incapacitated from
earning, his right to compensation shall not
terminate but shall continue for the full period
of incapacity.
(6) In all cases where there are no
presumptive dependents, but where there are one or
more persons wholly dependent in fact, the
compensation in case of death shall be divided
according to the relative degree of their
dependence. Compensation payable under this
subdivision shall be paid for not more than three
hundred and twelve weeks from the date of the
death of the employee. The compensation, if paid
to those wholly dependent in fact, shall be paid
at the full compensation rate. The compensation,
if paid to those partially dependent in fact upon
the deceased employee as of the date of the
injury, shall not, in total, be more than the full
compensation rate nor less than twenty dollars
weekly, nor, if the average weekly sum contributed
by the deceased at the date of the injury to those
partially dependent in fact is more than twenty
dollars weekly, not more than the sum so
contributed.
(7) When the sole presumptive dependents are,
at the time of the injury, nonresident aliens and
the deceased has in this state some person or
persons who are dependent in fact, the
commissioner may in his discretion equitably
apportion the sums payable as compensation to the
dependents.
Sec. 3. Section 31-307a of the general
statutes, as amended by section 4 of public act
97-205, is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) The weekly compensation rate of each
employee entitled to receive compensation under
section 31-307 as a result of an injury sustained
on or after October 1, 1969, and before July 1,
1993, which totally disables the employee
continuously or intermittently for any period
extending to the following October first or
thereafter, shall be adjusted annually as provided
in this subsection as of the following October
first, and each subsequent October first, to
provide the injured employee with a cost-of-living
adjustment in his weekly compensation rate as
determined as of the date of the injury under
section 31-309. If the maximum weekly compensation
rate as determined under the provisions of section
31-309, to be effective as of any October first
following the date of the injury, is greater than
the maximum weekly compensation rate prevailing as
of the date of the injury, the weekly compensation
rate which the injured employee was entitled to
receive at the date of the injury OR OCTOBER 1,
1990, WHICHEVER IS LATER, shall be increased by
the percentage of the increase in the maximum
weekly compensation rate required by the
provisions of section 31-309 from the date of the
injury OR OCTOBER 1, 1990, WHICHEVER IS LATER, to
such October first. The cost-of-living increases
provided under this subsection shall be paid by
the employer without any order or award from the
commissioner. The adjustments shall apply to each
payment made in the next succeeding twelve-month
period commencing with the October first next
succeeding the date of the injury.
(b) The weekly compensation rate of each
employee entitled to receive compensation under
section 31-307 as a result of an injury sustained
prior to October 1, 1969, which has disabled the
employee for a period extending to October 1,
1969, or thereafter shall be adjusted as of
October 1, 1969, and annually thereafter, as
provided in this subsection to provide the injured
employee with a partial cost-of-living adjustment
in his weekly compensation rate. The weekly
compensation rate paid prior to October 1, 1969,
to the injured employee shall be increased as of
October 1, 1969, by the amount that the maximum
weekly compensation rate as determined under
section 31-309 to be effective for injuries
sustained on or after October 1, 1969, is greater
than the maximum weekly compensation rate as
determined under section 31-309 to be effective
for injuries sustained on or after October 1,
1965, or the date of the injury, whichever is
later, but not more than fifteen dollars per week.
Thereafter, increases, if any, for cost-of-living
as provided in subsection (a) of this section
shall be added to the amount of weekly
compensation payable as of the date of the injury
[and the initial adjustment provided in this
subsection] OR OCTOBER 1, 1990, WHICHEVER IS
LATER. The partial cost-of-living adjustments
provided under this subsection shall be paid by
the employer without any order or award from the
commissioner. The adjustments shall apply to each
payment made in the next twelve-month period, on
or after October 1, 1969. The cost of the
adjustments shall be paid by the employer or his
insurance carrier who shall be reimbursed therefor
from the Second Injury Fund as provided in section
31-354 upon presentation of any vouchers and
information that the Treasurer shall require.
(c) On and after the effective date of [this
act] PUBLIC ACT 97-205, the weekly compensation
rate of each employee entitled to receive
compensation under section 31-307 as a result of
an injury sustained on or after July 1, 1993,
which totally incapacitates the employee
permanently, shall be adjusted as provided in this
subsection as of October 1, 1997, or the October
first following the injury date, whichever is
later, and annually on each subsequent October
first, to provide the injured employee with a
cost-of-living adjustment in his weekly
compensation rate as determined as of the date of
injury under section 31-309. If the maximum weekly
compensation rate, as determined under the
provisions of said section 31-309, to be effective
as of any October first following the date of the
injury, is greater than the maximum weekly
compensation rate prevailing as of the date of
injury, the weekly compensation rate which the
injured employee was entitled to receive as of the
date of injury shall be increased by the
percentage of the increase in the maximum weekly
compensation rate required by the provisions of
said section 31-309 from the date of the injury to
such October first. The cost-of-living adjustments
provided under this subdivision shall be paid by
the employer without any order or award from the
commissioner. The adjustments shall apply to each
payment made in the next succeeding twelve-month
period commencing with October 1, 1997, or the
October first next succeeding the date of injury,
whichever is later. With respect to any employee
receiving benefits on October 1, 1997, with
respect to any such injury occurring on or after
July 1, 1993, and before October 1, 1997, or with
respect to any employee who was adjudicated to be
totally incapacitated permanently subsequent to
the date of his injury or is totally incapacitated
permanently due to the fact that the employee has
been totally incapacitated by such an injury for a
period of five years or more, such benefit shall
be recalculated to October 1, 1997, to the date of
such adjudication or to the end of such five-year
period, as the case may be, as if such benefits
had been subject to recalculation annually under
the provisions of this subsection. The difference
between the amount of any benefits which would
have been paid to such employee if such benefits
had been subject to such recalculation and the
actual amount of benefits paid during the period
between such injury and such recalculation shall
be paid to the dependent not later than December
1, 1997, or thirty days after such adjudication or
the end of such period, as the case may be, in a
lump-sum payment. The employer or his insurer
shall be reimbursed by the Second Injury Fund, as
provided in section 31-354, for adjustments,
including lump-sum payments, payable under this
subsection for compensable injuries occurring on
or after July 1, 1993, and before October 1, 1997,
upon presentation of any vouchers and information
that the Treasurer shall require.
Sec. 4. Not later than sixty days after the
effective date of this act, the weekly benefit of
any person receiving benefits pursuant to section
31-306 of the general statutes, as amended by this
act, or section 31-307a of the general statutes,
as amended by this act, shall be recalculated to
the effective date of this act as if such benefits
had been subject to recalculation annually
according to the provisions of said sections. Not
later than sixty days after the effective date of
this act, any employer, insurer or other party
responsible for providing weekly benefits pursuant
to said sections shall begin providing such
benefits at the recalculated rate. Such
recalculated weekly benefits shall commence at the
beginning of a full week.
Sec. 5. Section 31-349e of the general
statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
There shall be an advisory board for the
Second Injury Fund to advise the custodian of the
Second Injury Fund on matters concerning
administration, operation, claim handling and
finances of the fund. On or before July 1, 1995,
the Treasurer shall appoint six of the eight
members to the board. Three members shall
represent employers and insurers who pay
assessments to the fund pursuant to section
31-354. Three such members shall represent
employees receiving benefits paid or reimbursed by
the fund. The two remaining members shall be the
chairmen of the labor and public employees
committee of the General Assembly or their
designees. The six members appointed by the
Treasurer shall be appointed for a term of four
years from January first in the year of their
appointment. Any vacancy shall be filled for the
remainder of the term in the same manner as the
original appointment. All members shall serve
without compensation. The board shall elect a
chairman from among its members. The Treasurer
shall provide such staff as is necessary for the
performance of the functions and duties of the
board. The board shall meet at least twice a year.
All actions of the board shall require an
affirmative vote of six members, OR THEIR
DESIGNEES, of the board. The board may adopt any
rules of procedure that it deems necessary to
carry out its duties.
Sec. 6. This act shall take effect July 1,
1998, except that section 1 shall take effect
October 1, 1998.
Approved May 22, 1998