Section 4706.5 Of Article 4. Death Benefits From California Labor Code >> Division 4. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 4.
4706.5
. (a) Whenever any fatal injury is suffered by an employee
under circumstances that would entitle the employee to compensation
benefits, but for his or her death, and the employee does not leave
surviving any person entitled to a dependency death benefit, the
employer shall pay a sum to the Department of Industrial Relations
equal to the total dependency death benefit that would be payable to
a surviving spouse with no dependent minor children.
(b) When the deceased employee leaves no surviving dependent,
personal representative, heir, or other person entitled to the
accrued and unpaid compensation referred to in Section 4700, the
accrued and unpaid compensation shall be paid by the employer to the
Department of Industrial Relations.
(c) The payments to be made to the Department of Industrial
Relations, as required by subdivisions (a) and (b), shall be
deposited in the General Fund and shall be credited, as a
reimbursement, to any appropriation to the Department of Industrial
Relations for payment of the additional compensation for subsequent
injury provided in Article 5 (commencing with Section 4751), in the
fiscal year in which the Controller's receipt is issued.
(d) The payments to be made to the Department of Industrial
Relations, as required by subdivision (a), shall be paid to the
department in a lump sum in the manner provided in subdivision (b) of
Section 5101.
(e) The Department of Industrial Relations shall keep a record of
all payments due the state under this section, and shall take any
steps as may be necessary to collect those amounts.
(f) Each employer, or the employer's insurance carrier, shall
notify the administrative director, in any form as the administrative
director may prescribe, of each employee death, except when the
employer has actual knowledge or notice that the deceased employee
left a surviving dependent.
(g) When, after a reasonable search, the employer concludes that
the deceased employee left no one surviving who is entitled to a
dependency death benefit, and concludes that the death was under
circumstances that would entitle the employee to compensation
benefits, the employer may voluntarily make the payment referred to
in subdivision (a). Payments so made shall be construed as payments
made pursuant to an appeals board findings and award. Thereafter, if
the appeals board finds that the deceased employee did in fact leave
a person surviving who is entitled to a dependency death benefit,
upon that finding, all payments referred to in subdivision (a) that
have been made shall be forthwith returned to the employer, or if
insured, to the employer's workers' compensation carrier that
indemnified the employer for the loss.
(h) This section does not apply where there is no surviving person
entitled to a dependency death benefit or accrued and unpaid
compensation if a death benefit is paid to any person under paragraph
(6) of subdivision (a) of Section 4702.