HOUSE: 122-0 SENATE: 40-0
After nearly a decade of continuously failing injured working people, Kansas has unanimously and bipartisanly advanced reform of its worker’s compensation system. The legislation will significantly increase maximum compensation for injured workers in Kansas. For many years, Kansas was either the worst or among the worst states in the country to be a worker who was seriously injured or killed while at work.
“This legislation is a win for our workforce, our businesses and organized labor,” said Gov. Laura Kelly. “The reforms in this legislation will create a more just and efficient workers compensation system that increases the benefits for injured workers while creating administrative efficiencies and maintaining stability for businesses.”
This legislation comes after hundreds of hours of negotiations between an eight person attorney team, with four dedicated to the interests of working people and four dedicated to the interests of commerce. The business and industry team included: Tony Anderson, Fred Greenbaum, Dallas Rakestraw, and Elizabeth Dotson. The team that fought for labor and workers included Jeff Cooper, Keith Mark, Phillip Slape, and Jan Fisher.
“My family and I, and our law firm, Mark & Burkhead, have devoted our entire professional careers to representing blue collar union workers who have been injured on the job. Up until now, the workers compensation system in Kansas has been severely slanted against workers. I am extremely proud to have been the representative of the unions that we work with, especially the four Kansas City Teamster locals, during the year-long negotiations that let to this historic bipartisan pro-worker legislation. These much needed changes will level the playing field for injured Kansas workers, forever,” said Keith Mark of Mark & Burkhead. “Obviously, Republicans have a super-majority in the Kansas Legislature, so nothing would have gotten done without their commitment to passing this pro-worker legislation. I am especially grateful to Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and GOP Chairman Mike Brown, for working to get this bill through the legislature, and to Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, whose leadership helped to continue to push the negotiations forward, and then ultimately, get the legislation passed and enacted into law. These bipartisan efforts have resulted in a huge win for Kansas workers and organized labor in Kansas!”
“We are proud to have come together with attorneys representing business and labor organizations to address the concerns of our stakeholders and contribute to a more fair and equitable system,” said Amber Shultz, secretary of the Kansas Department of Labor.
“Kansas has needed worker’s compensation reform since Brownback and the legislature watered in down roughly a decade ago. I want to thank Gov. Kelly for her leadership and for working with labor to get this done as a priority. If Kelly was not Governor, I do not know that this would have happened,” said Jake Miller, Partner at the Grissom Miller Law Firm.
None of this legislation would have been possible without labor fighting longside elected officials against the interests of corporations. This is why it is important to vote in every election and to elect labor-friendly candidates who choose working-people over profit.
What changes in this legislation?
SB 430 would amend workers compensation law to, amongst other things, increase lifetime benefit maximums, provide coverage for members of the Kansas National Guard, and modernize elements of the administrative process.
The bill would increase the following lifetime maximum benefits:
Death from:
$300,000 to $500,000
Permanent Total Disability from:
$155,000 to $400,000
Temporary Total Disability from:
$130,000 to $225,000
Permanent Partial Disability from:
$130,000 to $225,000
Temporary Partial Disability from:
$130,000 to $225,000
Functional Only from:
$75,000 to $100,000
The bill would also establish, beginning on July 1, 2027, an adjustment formula that would increase the maximum benefit caps annually by a five-year average of the percentage change in the state average weekly wage.
Additional Benefit Changes
Additional Benefit Payments and Reimbursements
The bill would require an employer to provide reimbursement for “reasonable expenses” for overnight accommodations in cases in which the employer requires the employee to seek a medical opinion outside of their town or city of residence. The bill would also increase the per diem requirement from $15 to $30 to help defray the employee’s meal expenses. [Note: Employers would still be required to provide funds for transportation.]
The bill would increase the amount of medical charges an employer is liable to cover from $500 to $800 when an employee consults a healthcare provider for the purpose of examination, diagnosis, or treatment without prior application or approval.
Benefit Calculation
The bill would clarify the reduction in the award of compensation for both permanent partial and permanent total disability based upon preexisting functional impairment is only for the “same physical structure as the body part injured.” The bill would also amend the benefit reduction calculations for retirement benefits under the Federal Social Security Act by only deducting 50.0 percent of the weekly equivalent amount of benefits from the employee’s permanent partial or permanent total disability benefits.
However, the bill would exclude temporary total and temporary partial disability compensation from said deduction. [Note: State law currently deducts 100.0 percent of Federal Social Security Act benefits from the employee’s disability benefits.]
The bill would amend the definition of “wage” by excluding from the calculation of their average weekly wage the employee’s first week of employment if the employee worked less than their expected weekly schedule that week.
Benefit Payment Methods
The bill would allow, upon agreement of the parties, for benefit payments to be made by electronic funds transfer or a payment card. Should payment be made in this manner, the bill would require that notification of payment by either electronic funds transfer or payment card be made to the injured worker’s attorney each time a payment is made.
Minimum Weekly Payments
The bill would increase the minimum weekly benefit payment amount from $25 to $50.
Death
The bill would require a judicial determination of dependency prior to any initial payments for the death of an employee due to injury. The bill would also replace the term “minor child” with “wholly dependent child” and require benefit payments to continue until the latest of the following dates:
The wholly dependent child, who is not enrolled in high school, becomes 18 years of age;
If enrolled in high school, May 30 of the wholly dependent child’s senior year in high school or until the child becomes 19 years of age, whichever comes first; or
The wholly dependent child’s 23rd birthday, if such child is a student enrolled full-time in an accredited institution of higher education or vocational education.
Notification of Injury
The bill would clarify an employee could notify their employer of an injury by accident or repetitive trauma either orally or in writing as provided by law.
The bill would also amend the timeframe in which an injured employee must notify their employer. An employee must notify their employer by the earliest of the following dates:
Within 30 calendar days from the date of the accident or date of injury by repetitive trauma; or
Within 20 calendar days after the employee’s last day of employment with the employer.
[Note: State law requires notification within 20 calendar days from the date of injury, 20 calendar days from the date of medical treatment for the injury, or 10 calendar days after the employee’s last day of employment with the employer.]
Reporting in this story includes quotes from the Kansas Reflector and notes notes prepared by the Kansas Legislative Research Department. A special thank you to Keith Mark for providing important context.
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
