3201.5
. (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), the
Department of Industrial Relations and the courts of this state shall
recognize as valid and binding any provision in a collective
bargaining agreement between a private employer or groups of
employers engaged in construction, construction maintenance, or
activities limited to rock, sand, gravel, cement and asphalt
operations, heavy-duty mechanics, surveying, and construction
inspection and a union that is the recognized or certified exclusive
bargaining representative that establishes any of the following:
(1) An alternative dispute resolution system governing disputes
between employees and employers or their insurers that supplements or
replaces all or part of those dispute resolution processes contained
in this division, including, but not limited to, mediation and
arbitration. Any system of arbitration shall provide that the
decision of the arbiter or board of arbitration is subject to review
by the appeals board in the same manner as provided for
reconsideration of a final order, decision, or award made and filed
by a workers' compensation administrative law judge pursuant to the
procedures set forth in Article 1 (commencing with Section 5900) of
Chapter 7 of Part 4 of Division 4, and the court of appeals pursuant
to the procedures set forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section
5950) of Chapter 7 of Part 4 of Division 4, governing orders,
decisions, or awards of the appeals board. The findings of fact,
award, order, or decision of the arbitrator shall have the same force
and effect as an award, order, or decision of a workers'
compensation administrative law judge. Any provision for arbitration
established pursuant to this section shall not be subject to Sections
5270, 5270.5, 5271, 5272, 5273, 5275, and 5277.
(2) The use of an agreed list of providers of medical treatment
that may be the exclusive source of all medical treatment provided
under this division.
(3) The use of an agreed, limited list of qualified medical
evaluators and agreed medical evaluators that may be the exclusive
source of qualified medical evaluators and agreed medical evaluators
under this division.
(4) Joint labor management safety committees.
(5) A light-duty, modified job or return-to-work program.
(6) A vocational rehabilitation or retraining program utilizing an
agreed list of providers of rehabilitation services that may be the
exclusive source of providers of rehabilitation services under this
division.
(b) (1) Nothing in this section shall allow a collective
bargaining agreement that diminishes the entitlement of an employee
to compensation payments for total or partial disability, temporary
disability, vocational rehabilitation, or medical treatment fully
paid by the employer as otherwise provided in this division. The
portion of any agreement that violates this paragraph shall be
declared null and void.
(2) The parties may negotiate any aspect of the delivery of
medical benefits and the delivery of disability compensation to
employees of the employer or group of employers that are eligible for
group health benefits and nonoccupational disability benefits
through their employer.
(c) Subdivision (a) shall apply only to the following:
(1) An employer developing or projecting an annual workers'
compensation insurance premium, in California, of two hundred fifty
thousand dollars ($250,000) or more, or any employer that paid an
annual workers' compensation insurance premium, in California, of two
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) in at least one of the
previous three years.
(2) Groups of employers engaged in a workers' compensation safety
group complying with Sections 11656.6 and 11656.7 of the Insurance
Code, and established pursuant to a joint labor management safety
committee or committees, that develops or projects annual workers'
compensation insurance premiums of two million dollars ($2,000,000)
or more.
(3) Employers or groups of employers that are self-insured in
compliance with Section 3700 that would have projected annual workers'
compensation costs that meet the requirements of, and that meet the
other requirements of, paragraph (1) in the case of employers, or
paragraph (2) in the case of groups of employers.
(4) Employers covered by an owner or general contractor provided
wrap-up insurance policy applicable to a single construction site
that develops workers' compensation insurance premiums of two million
dollars ($2,000,000) or more with respect to those employees covered
by that wrap-up insurance policy.
(d) Employers and labor representatives who meet the eligibility
requirements of this section shall be issued a letter by the
administrative director advising each employer and labor
representative that, based upon the review of all documents and
materials submitted as required by the administrative director, each
has met the eligibility requirements of this section.
(e) The premium rate for a policy of insurance issued pursuant to
this section shall not be subject to the requirements of Section
11732 or 11732.5 of the Insurance Code.
(f) No employer may establish or continue a program established
under this section until it has provided the administrative director
with all of the following:
(1) Upon its original application and whenever it is renegotiated
thereafter, a copy of the collective bargaining agreement and the
approximate number of employees who will be covered thereby.
(2) Upon its original application and annually thereafter, a valid
and active license where that license is required by law as a
condition of doing business in the state within the industries set
forth in subdivision (a) of Section 3201.5.
(3) Upon its original application and annually thereafter, a
statement signed under penalty of perjury, that no action has been
taken by any administrative agency or court of the United States to
invalidate the collective bargaining agreement.
(4) The name, address, and telephone number of the contact person
of the employer.
(5) Any other information that the administrative director deems
necessary to further the purposes of this section.
(g) No collective bargaining representative may establish or
continue to participate in a program established under this section
unless all of the following requirements are met:
(1) Upon its original application and annually thereafter, it has
provided to the administrative director a copy of its most recent
LM-2 or LM-3 filing with the United States Department of Labor, along
with a statement, signed under penalty of perjury, that the document
is a true and correct copy.
(2) It has provided to the administrative director the name,
address, and telephone number of the contact person or persons of the
collective bargaining representative or representatives.
(h) Commencing July 1, 1995, and annually thereafter, the Division
of Workers' Compensation shall report to the Director of Industrial
Relations the number of collective bargaining agreements received and
the number of employees covered by these agreements.
(i) The data obtained by the administrative director pursuant to
this section shall be confidential and not subject to public
disclosure under any law of this state. However, the Division of
Workers' Compensation shall create derivative works pursuant to
subdivision (h) based on the collective bargaining agreements and
data. Those derivative works shall not be confidential, but shall be
public. On a monthly basis the administrative director shall make
available an updated list of employers and unions entering into
collective bargaining agreements containing provisions authorized by
this section.