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AB 2378 —2— <br /> while disabled by injury or illness arising out of and in the course of <br /> employment. <br /> This bill would provide that the above-specified leaves of absence <br /> without loss of salary are payable in addition to the maximum aggregate <br /> disability payments for a single injury that is applicable to all workers. <br /> The bill would make these provisions applicable to all claims,regardless <br /> of the date of injury. The bill would also make related findings and <br /> declarations. <br /> Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. <br /> State-mandated local program: no. <br /> The people of the State of California do enact as follows: <br /> 1 SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the <br /> 2 following: <br /> 3 (a) Under current law, the courts are compelled to liberally <br /> 4 construe the workers' compensation statutes with the purpose of <br /> 5 extending related benefits for the protection of workers injured in <br /> 6 the course of their employment, so long as the intent of the <br /> 7 Legislature,as expressed in a particular statute, is not supplanted. <br /> 8 (b) With the enactment of Assembly Bill 338 of the 2007-08 <br /> 9 Regular Session (AB 338), the Legislature expressly intended to <br /> 10 ameliorate what was then the unintended consequence of unfairly <br /> 11 penalizing an injured employee who returned to work that resulted <br /> 12 from the two-year limit that was placed on aggregate disability <br /> 13 payments for certain single injuries causing temporary disability. <br /> 14 (c) As introduced,the clearly stated purpose of AB 338 was to <br /> 15 alleviate the penalty to injured workers pursuant to Section 4656 <br /> 16 of the Labor Code by increasing the maximum number of weeks <br /> 17 of temporary disability payments for which an injured worker may <br /> 18 be eligible, while also extending the time period of eligibility. <br /> 19 (d) In enacting AB 338, the Legislature adopted a consensus <br /> 20 solution that more closely upholds the purpose of the workers' <br /> 21 compensation system,which,by design,encourages and supports <br /> 22 injured workers in their efforts to return to work. <br /> 23 (e) Article 6 (commencing with Section 4800) and Article 7 <br /> 24 (commencing with Section 4850)of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division <br /> 25 4 of the Labor Code, both of which govern industrially injured <br /> 26 firefighters and other local public safety officers, provide for a <br /> 27 leave of absence for up to one year without a loss of salary in lieu <br /> 98 <br />