PLEASANTON, CA, Dec. 22, 2016 - IIABCal hosted a webinar this week on AB 2883—the new law significantly affecting how and which business owners can exempt themselves from workers’ compensation requirements—which takes effect and applies to all comp policies in force on Jan. 1.
Materials from that webinar are now available to all members, including a written summary of the most frequent questions IIABCal has received on the new law, and the answers to those questions. (See the link to that Q&A, and to other resources, below.)
IIABCal General Counsel Steve Young led the on-line discussion with one of the foremost authorities on California workers’ compensation law and practice, Mark Webb, founder and principal of Prop 23 Advisors (www.proposition23workerscomp.com).
AB 2883 amends the California Labor Code to allow exemptions from workers’ compensation requirements for an officer or director only if he/she owns at least 15% of the issued and outstanding stock of the corporation, or an individual who is a general partner of a partnership or a managing member of a limited liability company—and if that person elected to be excluded by executing a written waiver of his or her rights, stating under penalty of perjury that they were qualified for the exemption.
Most laws apply only prospectively, which for insurance purposes means they apply only to policies newly issued or renewed after the effective date of the change in law. When AB 2883 takes effect on Jan. 1, however, it will apply to all workers’ compensation policies—even those already in effect—because of a drafting error that no one caught before the bill was passed and signed into law.
The webinar, scheduled to last only 30 minutes, ran closer to 80 minutes as Webb and Young fielded every question attendees submitted to the panel during the session. Many questions centered around the application of the new law to business entities owned by trusts, the differing application of the new law to corporations, LLCs and sole proprietorships, and complicated issues surrounding multiple named insured (as well as business forms) on single policies.
“This was excellent,” one attendee said. “Some of our carriers have given us contradictory information, and we are so grateful IIABCal was able to patiently explain all of the confusing issues raised by this new law.”
The Dec. 21 webinar was recorded, and members may listen to that recording here.
PowerPoint slides used to illustrate question subject matter are available for review here.
IIABCal has also prepared a detailed written Q&A, based on the Webinar and the most frequent questions on the new law tendered to Young and IIABCal’s “First Call Free” member legal hotline. That Q&A is available here.
CDI Notice of Oct. 17th, including a summary of the bill's requirements and a new sample waiver form.
Here is the complete text of AB 2883.
Here is guidance provided by the California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB).
Webb most recently worked as Vice President (Government Relations) and Chief Compliance Officer for Pacific Compensation Insurance Company. He has also served as Assistant General Counsel (State Relations) with the American Internal Group (AIG), and Vice President, Western Region, with the American Insurance Association (AIA).
He currently serves on the California Advisory Committee for the Workers' Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). He has been a participating member of the Legal Committee of the California Workers' Compensation Institute (CWCI), the Claims Working Group for the WCIRB, and is a past chair of the Workers' Compensation Committee for the Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC).