(a) Except for those employees covered by Subsection (i) herein, any employee in the City service who sustains illness or injury proximately caused by, arising out of and in the course of the employee’s employment shall receive, from the date the employee is certified off duty for temporary total disability as a result of such illness or injury by either a physician or surgeon duly authorized under Subsection (d) of this section to administer treatment therefor or by the General Manager of the Personnel Department, an amount equal to (1) the employee’s regular biweekly, take-home pay at the time of incurring the disability condition (operative July 1, 1994 for non- represented employees and operative as specified by Council-approved ordinance implementing each MOU for those represented employees who have negotiated the take- home pay formula) or (2) 90 percent of the employee’s regular salary at the salary rate at the time of incurring the disability condition (operative July 1, 1994 for those represented employees who have not negotiated the take- home pay formula), as workers’ compensation in satisfaction of the obligation of the City of Los Angeles under Division IV of the Labor Code of the State of California and not as salary or wages for services rendered. For purposes of subsection (a)(1), take-home pay shall be defined as an employee’s biweekly gross salary rate less the mandatory deductions for Federal and State income tax withholding and employee retirement contributions.
Any employee of the City who sustains an illness or injury caused by, arising out of, and in the course and scope of the employee’s employment and who is certified by the General Manager of the Personnel Department in reliance on competent medical information, to be temporarily partially disabled may, with the approval of the employee’s appointing authority, work half-time, as that term is defined in Section 4.110(a). Employees, while working half-time, shall receive compensation for the hours worked at their regular rate of pay and shall receive compensation for the remaining hours of a regular work week as Workers’ Compensation in satisfaction of the City’s obligation under Division IV of the California Labor Code, as provided by this section.
The payment of such amount shall continue until said physician or surgeon or General Manager of the Personnel Department certifies that such employee is no longer temporarily disabled or that the employee is able to return to work full time; provided, however, that in no event shall any employee receive payment at the rate specified in this subsection for a longer period than one year in the aggregate for any one illness or injury.
(b) The Controller is authorized to deduct from the above mentioned workers’ compensation payments the following:
1. All deductions pursuant to the written authorization of the employee unless and until such authorization shall be canceled in writing by the employee.
2. An amount which would normally be withheld from the employee’s regular salary as provided by Section 1162 of the Charter as the employee’s contribution to the Retirement Fund. It is intended that this deduction be made in order that service credit for retirement purposes under Charter Sections 1150 et seq. may continue to accrue to any member of the City Employees’ Retirement System during the period in which payments are made to such member under this section.
3. An amount which would normally be withheld from the employee’s regular salary as provided by Section 4.1603(a) of the Los Angeles Administrative Code as the employee’s contribution to the Pension Savings Plan for Part-time, Seasonal and Temporary Employees.
The total amount of such deductions shall not exceed the difference between the amount payable to such employee under this section and the benefits to which the employee would be entitled under Division IV of the Labor Code. In case not all deductions can be made because of the provisions of this subsection, the Controller shall notify the employee in writing immediately to prevent possible loss of individual benefits.
(c) All money paid under this section shall be paid from the applicable salary account of the appropriate departmental fund; except that any payment, pursuant to Subsection (f) of this section, to a member of the City Employees’ Retirement System after such member is retired shall be made from the Workers’ Compensation Claims Account of the Personnel Department.
(d) It shall be the exclusive duty of the General Manager of the Personnel Department to secure all necessary medical and hospital care for employees coming within Subsection (a) of this section and decide upon the medical and factual record contained in the Personnel Department’s file, the following:
1. All medical issues and factual conflicts pertaining thereto;
2. All questions relating to the employees’ rights to the benefits provided in this section.
(e) If at any time an employee, or a dependent spouse, child, or parent of an employee, or any other person shall be granted or shall make claim for any benefit, compensation or award under Division IV of the Labor Code of the State of California or any general law providing for compensation or indemnity for illness or injury or death arising out of employment, then and in that event all payments made pursuant to the provisions of Subdivision (a) of this section shall be construed to be and shall be payments of such benefit, compensation or award, and all payments made under the provisions of this section shall be applied first to the payment of such benefit, compensation or award and only the balance remaining, if any, shall be applied as payment under this section.
(f) Any member of the City Employees’ Retirement System who is retired from City service under the provisions of Charter Sections 1150 et seq. during the period in which the employee is entitled to payments under the provisions of this section, shall, from and after the effective date of such retirement, be compensated under this section to the extent of the difference between the retirement benefits and (1) the employee’s take-home pay as defined in subsection (a) (for non-represented employees and those represented employees who have negotiated the take-home pay formula) or (2) 90% of the employee’s regular salary (for those represented employees who have not negotiated the take-home pay formula); provided that in no event shall the payments under this section be less than the benefits to which the employee would be entitled under Division IV of the Labor Code.
(g) Any employee who on and after the effective date of this amending ordinance, is entitled to receive compensation for temporary disability under Subdivision (a) of this section for an injury which occurred prior to the effective date of this amending ordinance shall, from and after said effective date, be compensated at the rate provided for in this section the same as if this section, as amended, had been in effect when the employee’s injury occurred.
(h) It shall be the duty of the General Manager of the Personnel Department to investigate the safety and personnel management aspects of working conditions resulting in illness and injury arising in the course of employment; to confer with and to make recommendations to the administrative head of any department, office or bureau concerned relative to any corrective action the General Manager deems necessary or advisable. Said General Manager of the Personnel Department shall transmit a periodic report of the Manager’s investigations and recommendations for further action on personnel and safety matters to the Personnel Committee of the Council. Each office, board, department and employee of the City shall render all possible assistance to said General Manager, who may utilize the services of operating department personnel in carrying out the Manager’s investigation under the provisions of this section.
(i) Any employee of the City service who becomes entitled to a leave of absence without loss of salary pursuant to California State Labor Code Section 4850 as amended effective January 1, 2010, shall be entitled to such benefit exclusively, and shall not be entitled to any temporary disability payments pursuant to Section 4.104 of this Code.
SECTION HISTORY
Based on Ord. No. 89,100.
Amended by: Ord. No. 130,264; Subsec. (a), Ord. No. 148,563, Eff. 7-12-76, Oper. 7-4-76; Ord. No. 150,582, Eff. 3-24-78, Oper. 4-1-78; Subsec. (h), Ord. No. 164,741, Eff. 5-27-89, Oper. 7-1-89. Subsec. (a), Ord. No. 167,709, Eff. 4-13-92; Sec. Title and Subsecs. (a) and (g), Ord. No. 167,709, Eff. 4-13-92; Subsecs. (a) and (b), Ord. No. 170,101, Eff. 11-17-94, Oper. 7-1-94; Para. 1 of Subsecs. (a) and (f) amended, Ord. No. 170,864, Eff. 1-22-96, Oper. 7-1-94; Ord. No. 173,308, Eff. 6-30-00, Oper. 7-1-00; Subsecs. (a) and (e) amended and Subsec. (i) added, Ord. No. 185,359, Eff. 12-27-17.