5800. All awards of the appeals board either for the payment of
compensation or for the payment of death benefits, shall carry
interest at the same rate as judgments in civil actions on all due
and unpaid payments from the date of the making and filing of said
award. Such interest shall run from the date of making and filing of
an award, as to amounts which by the terms of the award are payable
forthwith. As to amounts which under the terms of the award
subsequently become due in installments or otherwise, such interest
shall run from the date when each such amount becomes due and
payable.
5800.5. The 30-day period specified in Section 5313, shall run from
the date of the submission of the application for decision and the
provisions requiring the decision within such 30-day period shall be
deemed mandatory and not merely directive.
5801. The appeals board in its award may fix and determine the
total amount of compensation to be paid and specify the manner of
payment, or may fix and determine the weekly disability payment to be
made and order payment thereof during the continuance of disability.
In the event the injured employee or the dependent of a deceased
employee prevails in any petition by the employer for a writ of
review from an award of the appeals board and the reviewing court
finds that there is no reasonable basis for the petition, it shall
remand the cause to the appeals board for the purpose of making a
supplemental award awarding to the injured employee or his attorney,
or the dependent of a deceased employee or his attorney a reasonable
attorney's fee for services rendered in connection with the petition
for writ of review. Any such fee shall be in addition to the amount
of compensation otherwise recoverable and shall be paid as part of
the award by the party liable to pay such award.
5802. If, in any proceeding under this division, it is proved that
an injury has been suffered for which the employer would be liable to
pay compensation if disability had resulted therefrom, but it is not
proved that any disability has resulted, the appeals board may,
instead of dismissing the application, award a nominal disability
indemnity, if it appears that disability is likely to result at a
future time.
5803. The appeals board has continuing jurisdiction over all its
orders, decisions, and awards made and entered under the provisions
of this division, and the decisions and orders of the rehabilitation
unit established under Section 139.5. At any time, upon notice and
after an opportunity to be heard is given to the parties in interest,
the appeals board may rescind, alter, or amend any order, decision,
or award, good cause appearing therefor.
This power includes the right to review, grant or regrant,
diminish, increase, or terminate, within the limits prescribed by
this division, any compensation awarded, upon the grounds that the
disability of the person in whose favor the award was made has either
recurred, increased, diminished, or terminated.
5803.5. Any conviction pursuant to Section 1871.4 of the Insurance
Code that materially affects the basis of any order, decision, or
award of the appeals board shall be sufficient grounds for a
reconsideration of that order, decision, or award.
5804. No award of compensation shall be rescinded, altered, or
amended after five years from the date of the injury except upon a
petition by a party in interest filed within such five years and any
counterpetition seeking other relief filed by the adverse party
within 30 days of the original petition raising issues in addition to
those raised by such original petition. Provided, however, that
after an award has been made finding that there was employment and
the time to petition for a rehearing or reconsideration or review has
expired or such petition if made has been determined, the appeals
board upon a petition to reopen shall not have the power to find that
there was no employment.
5805. Any order, decision, or award rescinding, altering or
amending a prior order, decision, or award shall have the effect
herein provided for original orders, decisions, and awards.
5806. Any party affected thereby may file a certified copy of the
findings and order, decision, or award of the appeals board with the
clerk of the superior court of any county. Judgment shall be entered
immediately by the clerk in conformity therewith. The words "any
party affected thereby" include the Uninsured Employers Fund. In any
case in which the findings and order, decision, or award of the
appeals board is against an employer that has failed to secure the
payment of compensation, the State of California on behalf of the
Uninsured Employers Fund shall be entitled to have judgment entered
not only against the employer, but also against any person found to
be parents or substantial shareholders under Section 3717.
5807. The certified copy of the findings and order, decision, or
award of the appeals board and a copy of the judgment constitute the
judgment-roll. The pleadings, all orders of the appeals board, its
original findings and order, decision, or award, and all other papers
and documents filed in the cause shall remain on file in the office
of the appeals board.
5808. The appeals board or a member thereof may stay the execution
of any judgment entered upon an order, decision, or award of the
appeals board, upon good cause appearing therefor and may impose the
terms and conditions of the stay of execution. A certified copy of
such order shall be filed with the clerk entering judgment. Where it
is desirable to stay the enforcement of an order, decision, or award
and a certified copy thereof and of the findings has not been issued,
the appeals board or a member thereof may order the certified copy
to be withheld with the same force and under the same conditions as
it might issue a stay of execution if the certified copy had been
issued and judgment entered thereon.
5809. When a judgment is satisfied in fact, otherwise than upon an
execution, the appeals board may, upon motion of either party or of
its own motion, order the entry of satisfaction of the judgment. The
clerk shall enter satisfaction of judgment only upon the filing of a
certified copy of such order.
5810. The orders, findings, decisions, or awards of the appeals
board made and entered under this division may be reviewed by the
courts specified in Sections 5950 to 5956 within the time and in the
manner therein specified and not otherwise.
5811. (a) No fees shall be charged by the clerk of any court for
the performance of any official service required by this division,
except for the docketing of awards as judgments and for certified
copies of transcripts thereof. In all proceedings under this division
before the appeals board, costs as between the parties may be
allowed by the appeals board.
(b) It shall be the responsibility of any party producing a
witness requiring an interpreter to arrange for the presence of a
qualified interpreter. A qualified interpreter is a language
interpreter who is certified, or deemed certified, pursuant to
Article 8 (commencing with Section 11435.05) of Chapter 4.5 of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of, or Section 68566 of, the Government
Code.
Interpreter fees which are reasonably, actually, and necessarily
incurred shall be allowed as cost under this section, provided they
are in accordance with the fee schedule set by the administrative
director.
A qualified interpreter may render services during the following:
(1) A deposition.
(2) An appeals board hearing.
(3) During those settings which the administrative director
determines are reasonably necessary to ascertain the validity or
extent of injury to an employee who cannot communicate in English.
5813. (a) The workers' compensation referee or appeals board may
order a party, the party's attorney, or both, to pay any reasonable
expenses, including attorney's fees and costs, incurred by another
party as a result of bad-faith actions or tactics that are frivolous
or solely intended to cause unnecessary delay. In addition, a workers'
compensation referee or the appeals board, in its sole discretion,
may order additional sanctions not to exceed two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500) to be transmitted to the General Fund.
(b) The determination of sanctions shall be made after written
application by the party seeking sanctions or upon the appeal board's
own motion.
(c) This section shall apply to all applications for adjudication
that are filed on or after January 1, 1994.
5814. (a) When payment of compensation has been unreasonably
delayed or refused, either prior to or subsequent to the issuance of
an award, the amount of the payment unreasonably delayed or refused
shall be increased up to 25 percent or up to ten thousand dollars
($10,000), whichever is less. In any proceeding under this section,
the appeals board shall use its discretion to accomplish a fair
balance and substantial justice between the parties.
(b) If a potential violation of this section is discovered by the
employer prior to an employee claiming a penalty under this section,
the employer, within 90 days of the date of the discovery, may pay a
self-imposed penalty in the amount of 10 percent of the amount of the
payment unreasonably delayed or refused, along with the amount of
the payment delayed or refused. This self-imposed penalty shall be in
lieu of the penalty in subdivision (a).
(c) Upon the approval of a compromise and release, findings and
awards, or stipulations and orders by the appeals board, it shall be
conclusively presumed that any accrued claims for penalty have been
resolved, regardless of whether a petition for penalty has been
filed, unless the claim for penalty is expressly excluded by the
terms of the order or award. Upon the submission of any issue for
determination at a regular trial hearing, it shall be conclusively
presumed that any accrued claim for penalty in connection with the
benefit at issue has been resolved, regardless of whether a petition
for penalty has been filed, unless the issue of penalty is also
submitted or is expressly excluded in the statement of issues being
submitted.
(d) The payment of any increased award pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be reduced by any amount paid under subdivision (d) of Section
4650 on the same unreasonably delayed or refused benefit payment.
(e) No unreasonable delay in the provision of medical treatment
shall be found when the treatment has been authorized by the employer
in a timely manner and the only dispute concerns payment of a
billing submitted by a physician or medical provider as provided in
Section 4603.2.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a civil
cause of action.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no action may be
brought to recover penalties that may be awarded under this section
more than two years from the date the payment of compensation was
due.
(h) This section shall apply to all injuries, without regard to
whether the injury occurs before, on, or after the operative date of
this section.
(i) This section shall become operative on June 1, 2004.
5814.1. When the payment of compensation has been unreasonably
delayed or refused prior to the issuance of an award, and the
director has provided discretionary compensation pursuant to Section
4903.3, the appeals board shall award to the director a penalty to be
paid by the employer in the amount of 10 percent of the compensation
so provided by the director, such penalty to be in addition to the
penalty imposed by Section 5814. The question of delay and the
reasonableness of the cause therefor shall be determined by the
appeals board in accordance with the facts.
5814.5. When the payment of compensation has been unreasonably
delayed or refused subsequent to the issuance of an award by an
employer that has secured the payment of compensation pursuant to
Section 3700, the appeals board shall, in addition to increasing the
order, decision, or award pursuant to Section 5814, award reasonable
attorneys' fees incurred in enforcing the payment of compensation
awarded.
5814.6. (a) Any employer or insurer that knowingly violates Section
5814 with a frequency that indicates a general business practice is
liable for administrative penalties of not to exceed four hundred
thousand dollars ($400,000). Penalty payments shall be imposed by the
administrative director and deposited into the Return-to-Work Fund
established pursuant to Section 139.48.
(b) The administrative director may impose a penalty under either
this section or subdivision (e) of Section 129.5.
(c) This section shall become operative on June 1, 2004.
5815. Every order, decision or award, other than an order merely
appointing a trustee or guardian, shall contain a determination of
all issues presented for determination by the appeals board prior
thereto and not theretofore determined. Any issue not so determined
will be deemed decided adversely as to the party in whose interest
such issue was raised.
5816. A determination of facts by the appeals board under this
chapter has no collateral estoppel effect on a subsequent criminal
prosecution and does not preclude litigation of those same facts in
the criminal proceeding.
5800. All awards of the appeals board either for the payment of
compensation or for the payment of death benefits, shall carry
interest at the same rate as judgments in civil actions on all due
and unpaid payments from the date of the making and filing of said
award. Such interest shall run from the date of making and filing of
an award, as to amounts which by the terms of the award are payable
forthwith. As to amounts which under the terms of the award
subsequently become due in installments or otherwise, such interest
shall run from the date when each such amount becomes due and
payable.
5800.5. The 30-day period specified in Section 5313, shall run from
the date of the submission of the application for decision and the
provisions requiring the decision within such 30-day period shall be
deemed mandatory and not merely directive.
5801. The appeals board in its award may fix and determine the
total amount of compensation to be paid and specify the manner of
payment, or may fix and determine the weekly disability payment to be
made and order payment thereof during the continuance of disability.
In the event the injured employee or the dependent of a deceased
employee prevails in any petition by the employer for a writ of
review from an award of the appeals board and the reviewing court
finds that there is no reasonable basis for the petition, it shall
remand the cause to the appeals board for the purpose of making a
supplemental award awarding to the injured employee or his attorney,
or the dependent of a deceased employee or his attorney a reasonable
attorney's fee for services rendered in connection with the petition
for writ of review. Any such fee shall be in addition to the amount
of compensation otherwise recoverable and shall be paid as part of
the award by the party liable to pay such award.
5802. If, in any proceeding under this division, it is proved that
an injury has been suffered for which the employer would be liable to
pay compensation if disability had resulted therefrom, but it is not
proved that any disability has resulted, the appeals board may,
instead of dismissing the application, award a nominal disability
indemnity, if it appears that disability is likely to result at a
future time.
5803. The appeals board has continuing jurisdiction over all its
orders, decisions, and awards made and entered under the provisions
of this division, and the decisions and orders of the rehabilitation
unit established under Section 139.5. At any time, upon notice and
after an opportunity to be heard is given to the parties in interest,
the appeals board may rescind, alter, or amend any order, decision,
or award, good cause appearing therefor.
This power includes the right to review, grant or regrant,
diminish, increase, or terminate, within the limits prescribed by
this division, any compensation awarded, upon the grounds that the
disability of the person in whose favor the award was made has either
recurred, increased, diminished, or terminated.
5803.5. Any conviction pursuant to Section 1871.4 of the Insurance
Code that materially affects the basis of any order, decision, or
award of the appeals board shall be sufficient grounds for a
reconsideration of that order, decision, or award.
5804. No award of compensation shall be rescinded, altered, or
amended after five years from the date of the injury except upon a
petition by a party in interest filed within such five years and any
counterpetition seeking other relief filed by the adverse party
within 30 days of the original petition raising issues in addition to
those raised by such original petition. Provided, however, that
after an award has been made finding that there was employment and
the time to petition for a rehearing or reconsideration or review has
expired or such petition if made has been determined, the appeals
board upon a petition to reopen shall not have the power to find that
there was no employment.
5805. Any order, decision, or award rescinding, altering or
amending a prior order, decision, or award shall have the effect
herein provided for original orders, decisions, and awards.
5806. Any party affected thereby may file a certified copy of the
findings and order, decision, or award of the appeals board with the
clerk of the superior court of any county. Judgment shall be entered
immediately by the clerk in conformity therewith. The words "any
party affected thereby" include the Uninsured Employers Fund. In any
case in which the findings and order, decision, or award of the
appeals board is against an employer that has failed to secure the
payment of compensation, the State of California on behalf of the
Uninsured Employers Fund shall be entitled to have judgment entered
not only against the employer, but also against any person found to
be parents or substantial shareholders under Section 3717.
5807. The certified copy of the findings and order, decision, or
award of the appeals board and a copy of the judgment constitute the
judgment-roll. The pleadings, all orders of the appeals board, its
original findings and order, decision, or award, and all other papers
and documents filed in the cause shall remain on file in the office
of the appeals board.
5808. The appeals board or a member thereof may stay the execution
of any judgment entered upon an order, decision, or award of the
appeals board, upon good cause appearing therefor and may impose the
terms and conditions of the stay of execution. A certified copy of
such order shall be filed with the clerk entering judgment. Where it
is desirable to stay the enforcement of an order, decision, or award
and a certified copy thereof and of the findings has not been issued,
the appeals board or a member thereof may order the certified copy
to be withheld with the same force and under the same conditions as
it might issue a stay of execution if the certified copy had been
issued and judgment entered thereon.
5809. When a judgment is satisfied in fact, otherwise than upon an
execution, the appeals board may, upon motion of either party or of
its own motion, order the entry of satisfaction of the judgment. The
clerk shall enter satisfaction of judgment only upon the filing of a
certified copy of such order.
5810. The orders, findings, decisions, or awards of the appeals
board made and entered under this division may be reviewed by the
courts specified in Sections 5950 to 5956 within the time and in the
manner therein specified and not otherwise.
5811. (a) No fees shall be charged by the clerk of any court for
the performance of any official service required by this division,
except for the docketing of awards as judgments and for certified
copies of transcripts thereof. In all proceedings under this division
before the appeals board, costs as between the parties may be
allowed by the appeals board.
(b) It shall be the responsibility of any party producing a
witness requiring an interpreter to arrange for the presence of a
qualified interpreter. A qualified interpreter is a language
interpreter who is certified, or deemed certified, pursuant to
Article 8 (commencing with Section 11435.05) of Chapter 4.5 of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of, or Section 68566 of, the Government
Code.
Interpreter fees which are reasonably, actually, and necessarily
incurred shall be allowed as cost under this section, provided they
are in accordance with the fee schedule set by the administrative
director.
A qualified interpreter may render services during the following:
(1) A deposition.
(2) An appeals board hearing.
(3) During those settings which the administrative director
determines are reasonably necessary to ascertain the validity or
extent of injury to an employee who cannot communicate in English.
5813. (a) The workers' compensation referee or appeals board may
order a party, the party's attorney, or both, to pay any reasonable
expenses, including attorney's fees and costs, incurred by another
party as a result of bad-faith actions or tactics that are frivolous
or solely intended to cause unnecessary delay. In addition, a workers'
compensation referee or the appeals board, in its sole discretion,
may order additional sanctions not to exceed two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500) to be transmitted to the General Fund.
(b) The determination of sanctions shall be made after written
application by the party seeking sanctions or upon the appeal board's
own motion.
(c) This section shall apply to all applications for adjudication
that are filed on or after January 1, 1994.
5814. (a) When payment of compensation has been unreasonably
delayed or refused, either prior to or subsequent to the issuance of
an award, the amount of the payment unreasonably delayed or refused
shall be increased up to 25 percent or up to ten thousand dollars
($10,000), whichever is less. In any proceeding under this section,
the appeals board shall use its discretion to accomplish a fair
balance and substantial justice between the parties.
(b) If a potential violation of this section is discovered by the
employer prior to an employee claiming a penalty under this section,
the employer, within 90 days of the date of the discovery, may pay a
self-imposed penalty in the amount of 10 percent of the amount of the
payment unreasonably delayed or refused, along with the amount of
the payment delayed or refused. This self-imposed penalty shall be in
lieu of the penalty in subdivision (a).
(c) Upon the approval of a compromise and release, findings and
awards, or stipulations and orders by the appeals board, it shall be
conclusively presumed that any accrued claims for penalty have been
resolved, regardless of whether a petition for penalty has been
filed, unless the claim for penalty is expressly excluded by the
terms of the order or award. Upon the submission of any issue for
determination at a regular trial hearing, it shall be conclusively
presumed that any accrued claim for penalty in connection with the
benefit at issue has been resolved, regardless of whether a petition
for penalty has been filed, unless the issue of penalty is also
submitted or is expressly excluded in the statement of issues being
submitted.
(d) The payment of any increased award pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be reduced by any amount paid under subdivision (d) of Section
4650 on the same unreasonably delayed or refused benefit payment.
(e) No unreasonable delay in the provision of medical treatment
shall be found when the treatment has been authorized by the employer
in a timely manner and the only dispute concerns payment of a
billing submitted by a physician or medical provider as provided in
Section 4603.2.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a civil
cause of action.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no action may be
brought to recover penalties that may be awarded under this section
more than two years from the date the payment of compensation was
due.
(h) This section shall apply to all injuries, without regard to
whether the injury occurs before, on, or after the operative date of
this section.
(i) This section shall become operative on June 1, 2004.
5814.1. When the payment of compensation has been unreasonably
delayed or refused prior to the issuance of an award, and the
director has provided discretionary compensation pursuant to Section
4903.3, the appeals board shall award to the director a penalty to be
paid by the employer in the amount of 10 percent of the compensation
so provided by the director, such penalty to be in addition to the
penalty imposed by Section 5814. The question of delay and the
reasonableness of the cause therefor shall be determined by the
appeals board in accordance with the facts.
5814.5. When the payment of compensation has been unreasonably
delayed or refused subsequent to the issuance of an award by an
employer that has secured the payment of compensation pursuant to
Section 3700, the appeals board shall, in addition to increasing the
order, decision, or award pursuant to Section 5814, award reasonable
attorneys' fees incurred in enforcing the payment of compensation
awarded.
5814.6. (a) Any employer or insurer that knowingly violates Section
5814 with a frequency that indicates a general business practice is
liable for administrative penalties of not to exceed four hundred
thousand dollars ($400,000). Penalty payments shall be imposed by the
administrative director and deposited into the Return-to-Work Fund
established pursuant to Section 139.48.
(b) The administrative director may impose a penalty under either
this section or subdivision (e) of Section 129.5.
(c) This section shall become operative on June 1, 2004.
5815. Every order, decision or award, other than an order merely
appointing a trustee or guardian, shall contain a determination of
all issues presented for determination by the appeals board prior
thereto and not theretofore determined. Any issue not so determined
will be deemed decided adversely as to the party in whose interest
such issue was raised.
5816. A determination of facts by the appeals board under this
chapter has no collateral estoppel effect on a subsequent criminal
prosecution and does not preclude litigation of those same facts in
the criminal proceeding.
5800. All awards of the appeals board either for the payment of
compensation or for the payment of death benefits, shall carry
interest at the same rate as judgments in civil actions on all due
and unpaid payments from the date of the making and filing of said
award. Such interest shall run from the date of making and filing of
an award, as to amounts which by the terms of the award are payable
forthwith. As to amounts which under the terms of the award
subsequently become due in installments or otherwise, such interest
shall run from the date when each such amount becomes due and
payable.
5800.5. The 30-day period specified in Section 5313, shall run from
the date of the submission of the application for decision and the
provisions requiring the decision within such 30-day period shall be
deemed mandatory and not merely directive.
5801. The appeals board in its award may fix and determine the
total amount of compensation to be paid and specify the manner of
payment, or may fix and determine the weekly disability payment to be
made and order payment thereof during the continuance of disability.
In the event the injured employee or the dependent of a deceased
employee prevails in any petition by the employer for a writ of
review from an award of the appeals board and the reviewing court
finds that there is no reasonable basis for the petition, it shall
remand the cause to the appeals board for the purpose of making a
supplemental award awarding to the injured employee or his attorney,
or the dependent of a deceased employee or his attorney a reasonable
attorney's fee for services rendered in connection with the petition
for writ of review. Any such fee shall be in addition to the amount
of compensation otherwise recoverable and shall be paid as part of
the award by the party liable to pay such award.
5802. If, in any proceeding under this division, it is proved that
an injury has been suffered for which the employer would be liable to
pay compensation if disability had resulted therefrom, but it is not
proved that any disability has resulted, the appeals board may,
instead of dismissing the application, award a nominal disability
indemnity, if it appears that disability is likely to result at a
future time.
5803. The appeals board has continuing jurisdiction over all its
orders, decisions, and awards made and entered under the provisions
of this division, and the decisions and orders of the rehabilitation
unit established under Section 139.5. At any time, upon notice and
after an opportunity to be heard is given to the parties in interest,
the appeals board may rescind, alter, or amend any order, decision,
or award, good cause appearing therefor.
This power includes the right to review, grant or regrant,
diminish, increase, or terminate, within the limits prescribed by
this division, any compensation awarded, upon the grounds that the
disability of the person in whose favor the award was made has either
recurred, increased, diminished, or terminated.
5803.5. Any conviction pursuant to Section 1871.4 of the Insurance
Code that materially affects the basis of any order, decision, or
award of the appeals board shall be sufficient grounds for a
reconsideration of that order, decision, or award.
5804. No award of compensation shall be rescinded, altered, or
amended after five years from the date of the injury except upon a
petition by a party in interest filed within such five years and any
counterpetition seeking other relief filed by the adverse party
within 30 days of the original petition raising issues in addition to
those raised by such original petition. Provided, however, that
after an award has been made finding that there was employment and
the time to petition for a rehearing or reconsideration or review has
expired or such petition if made has been determined, the appeals
board upon a petition to reopen shall not have the power to find that
there was no employment.
5805. Any order, decision, or award rescinding, altering or
amending a prior order, decision, or award shall have the effect
herein provided for original orders, decisions, and awards.
5806. Any party affected thereby may file a certified copy of the
findings and order, decision, or award of the appeals board with the
clerk of the superior court of any county. Judgment shall be entered
immediately by the clerk in conformity therewith. The words "any
party affected thereby" include the Uninsured Employers Fund. In any
case in which the findings and order, decision, or award of the
appeals board is against an employer that has failed to secure the
payment of compensation, the State of California on behalf of the
Uninsured Employers Fund shall be entitled to have judgment entered
not only against the employer, but also against any person found to
be parents or substantial shareholders under Section 3717.
5807. The certified copy of the findings and order, decision, or
award of the appeals board and a copy of the judgment constitute the
judgment-roll. The pleadings, all orders of the appeals board, its
original findings and order, decision, or award, and all other papers
and documents filed in the cause shall remain on file in the office
of the appeals board.
5808. The appeals board or a member thereof may stay the execution
of any judgment entered upon an order, decision, or award of the
appeals board, upon good cause appearing therefor and may impose the
terms and conditions of the stay of execution. A certified copy of
such order shall be filed with the clerk entering judgment. Where it
is desirable to stay the enforcement of an order, decision, or award
and a certified copy thereof and of the findings has not been issued,
the appeals board or a member thereof may order the certified copy
to be withheld with the same force and under the same conditions as
it might issue a stay of execution if the certified copy had been
issued and judgment entered thereon.
5809. When a judgment is satisfied in fact, otherwise than upon an
execution, the appeals board may, upon motion of either party or of
its own motion, order the entry of satisfaction of the judgment. The
clerk shall enter satisfaction of judgment only upon the filing of a
certified copy of such order.
5810. The orders, findings, decisions, or awards of the appeals
board made and entered under this division may be reviewed by the
courts specified in Sections 5950 to 5956 within the time and in the
manner therein specified and not otherwise.
5811. (a) No fees shall be charged by the clerk of any court for
the performance of any official service required by this division,
except for the docketing of awards as judgments and for certified
copies of transcripts thereof. In all proceedings under this division
before the appeals board, costs as between the parties may be
allowed by the appeals board.
(b) It shall be the responsibility of any party producing a
witness requiring an interpreter to arrange for the presence of a
qualified interpreter. A qualified interpreter is a language
interpreter who is certified, or deemed certified, pursuant to
Article 8 (commencing with Section 11435.05) of Chapter 4.5 of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of, or Section 68566 of, the Government
Code.
Interpreter fees which are reasonably, actually, and necessarily
incurred shall be allowed as cost under this section, provided they
are in accordance with the fee schedule set by the administrative
director.
A qualified interpreter may render services during the following:
(1) A deposition.
(2) An appeals board hearing.
(3) During those settings which the administrative director
determines are reasonably necessary to ascertain the validity or
extent of injury to an employee who cannot communicate in English.
5813. (a) The workers' compensation referee or appeals board may
order a party, the party's attorney, or both, to pay any reasonable
expenses, including attorney's fees and costs, incurred by another
party as a result of bad-faith actions or tactics that are frivolous
or solely intended to cause unnecessary delay. In addition, a workers'
compensation referee or the appeals board, in its sole discretion,
may order additional sanctions not to exceed two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500) to be transmitted to the General Fund.
(b) The determination of sanctions shall be made after written
application by the party seeking sanctions or upon the appeal board's
own motion.
(c) This section shall apply to all applications for adjudication
that are filed on or after January 1, 1994.
5814. (a) When payment of compensation has been unreasonably
delayed or refused, either prior to or subsequent to the issuance of
an award, the amount of the payment unreasonably delayed or refused
shall be increased up to 25 percent or up to ten thousand dollars
($10,000), whichever is less. In any proceeding under this section,
the appeals board shall use its discretion to accomplish a fair
balance and substantial justice between the parties.
(b) If a potential violation of this section is discovered by the
employer prior to an employee claiming a penalty under this section,
the employer, within 90 days of the date of the discovery, may pay a
self-imposed penalty in the amount of 10 percent of the amount of the
payment unreasonably delayed or refused, along with the amount of
the payment delayed or refused. This self-imposed penalty shall be in
lieu of the penalty in subdivision (a).
(c) Upon the approval of a compromise and release, findings and
awards, or stipulations and orders by the appeals board, it shall be
conclusively presumed that any accrued claims for penalty have been
resolved, regardless of whether a petition for penalty has been
filed, unless the claim for penalty is expressly excluded by the
terms of the order or award. Upon the submission of any issue for
determination at a regular trial hearing, it shall be conclusively
presumed that any accrued claim for penalty in connection with the
benefit at issue has been resolved, regardless of whether a petition
for penalty has been filed, unless the issue of penalty is also
submitted or is expressly excluded in the statement of issues being
submitted.
(d) The payment of any increased award pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be reduced by any amount paid under subdivision (d) of Section
4650 on the same unreasonably delayed or refused benefit payment.
(e) No unreasonable delay in the provision of medical treatment
shall be found when the treatment has been authorized by the employer
in a timely manner and the only dispute concerns payment of a
billing submitted by a physician or medical provider as provided in
Section 4603.2.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a civil
cause of action.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no action may be
brought to recover penalties that may be awarded under this section
more than two years from the date the payment of compensation was
due.
(h) This section shall apply to all injuries, without regard to
whether the injury occurs before, on, or after the operative date of
this section.
(i) This section shall become operative on June 1, 2004.
5814.1. When the payment of compensation has been unreasonably
delayed or refused prior to the issuance of an award, and the
director has provided discretionary compensation pursuant to Section
4903.3, the appeals board shall award to the director a penalty to be
paid by the employer in the amount of 10 percent of the compensation
so provided by the director, such penalty to be in addition to the
penalty imposed by Section 5814. The question of delay and the
reasonableness of the cause therefor shall be determined by the
appeals board in accordance with the facts.
5814.5. When the payment of compensation has been unreasonably
delayed or refused subsequent to the issuance of an award by an
employer that has secured the payment of compensation pursuant to
Section 3700, the appeals board shall, in addition to increasing the
order, decision, or award pursuant to Section 5814, award reasonable
attorneys' fees incurred in enforcing the payment of compensation
awarded.
5814.6. (a) Any employer or insurer that knowingly violates Section
5814 with a frequency that indicates a general business practice is
liable for administrative penalties of not to exceed four hundred
thousand dollars ($400,000). Penalty payments shall be imposed by the
administrative director and deposited into the Return-to-Work Fund
established pursuant to Section 139.48.
(b) The administrative director may impose a penalty under either
this section or subdivision (e) of Section 129.5.
(c) This section shall become operative on June 1, 2004.
5815. Every order, decision or award, other than an order merely
appointing a trustee or guardian, shall contain a determination of
all issues presented for determination by the appeals board prior
thereto and not theretofore determined. Any issue not so determined
will be deemed decided adversely as to the party in whose interest
such issue was raised.
5816. A determination of facts by the appeals board under this
chapter has no collateral estoppel effect on a subsequent criminal
prosecution and does not preclude litigation of those same facts in
the criminal proceeding.
