PRINTER'S NO. 85
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
83
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY KAUFFMAN, GROVE, RYAN, ROTHMAN, BERNSTINE, PYLE,
RAPP, KEEFER, MACKENZIE, MENTZER, OBERLANDER AND DUSH,
JANUARY 28, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, JANUARY 28, 2019
AN ACT
Amending the act of June 2, 1915 (P.L.736, No.338), entitled "An
act defining the liability of an employer to pay damages for
injuries received by an employe in the course of employment;
establishing an elective schedule of compensation; providing
procedure for the determination of liability and compensation
thereunder; and prescribing penalties," in Uninsured
Employers Guaranty Fund, further providing for claim
petition.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 1604 of the act of June 2, 1915 (P.L.736,
No.338), known as the Workers' Compensation Act, amended October
24, 2018 (P.L.804, No.132), is amended to read:
Section 1604. Claim petition.
(a) Authorization.--If a claim for compensation is filed
under this article and the claim is not voluntarily accepted as
compensable, the employee may file a claim petition naming both
the employer and the fund as defendants. Failure of the
uninsured employer to answer a claim petition shall not serve as
an admission or otherwise bind the fund under section 416.
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(b) Amount of wages.--In a proceeding under this article,
the fund shall not be liable for wage loss payments unless the
amount of wages the employee earned at the time of injury is
established by one of the following:
(1) A check, check stub or payroll record.
(2) A tax return. This paragraph includes IRS form W-2
and form 1099, and successors to those forms.
(3) Unemployment compensation records, including form
UC-2A.
(4) Bank statements or records showing regular and
recurring deposits.
(5) Written documentation created contemporaneously with
the payment of wages.
(6) Testimony of the uninsured employer presented under
oath at a hearing or deposition.
(7) Testimony of the claimant, if found credible by the
judge, which is provided in addition to one or more of the
items listed in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6).
[(c) Limitation on wage loss payments.--If a judge accepts
testimony and finds it to be credible under subsection (b)(7) as
the sole basis for determining wage loss payments, without
supporting evidence established in subsection (b)(1), (2), (3),
(4), (5) or (6), the wage loss payment rate shall be 66.6% of
the average weekly wage for the claimant's occupation. The judge
may reduce the average weekly wage loss payment upon the
submission of evidence indicating a lesser wage amount or based
on the claimant's length of employment with the employer. For
the purposes of this subsection, the term "average weekly wage"
is the average weekly wage for the claimant's occupation by
metropolitan statistical area, as determined by the United
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States Department of Labor for the calendar year prior to the
year in which the claimant's injury occurred, and shall be based
on the metropolitan statistical area in which the claimant's
injury occurred.]
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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