Labor Code 4850 Update: Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers' Assn. v. County of Los Angeles

By
Megan K. Rogers

Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers' Assn. v. County of Los Angeles (2008) 2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 1136

The Second District Court of Appeal found the differential treatment between deputies injured at work and those who are not violated Lab. Code, § 4850, which provided that when a public safety officer was disabled, whether temporarily or permanently, by injury or illness arising out of and in the course of his duties, he was entitled to a leave of absence while so disabled without loss of salary.

The facts are as follows: A deputy Sheriff who has accumulated more than 320 hours of vacation time may defer the hours in excess of 320 to the following year. If the excess hours are not used by the end of that year the County pays the deputy for the hours. This cash out is considered “pensionable income” and is part of the calculation of the deputy's salary for purposes of retirement benefits. However, if a deputy retires in the year following a 4850 work-related injury leave, the County will not cash out deferred excess hours. The hours remain in the deputy's account and will be compensated for the hours at retirement. Under established law, that payment is not pensionable income and does not become part of the pension calculation. Thus, a deputy who has accumulated excess vacation hours, but who has never been injured on duty, might collect more in retirement benefits than a deputy who has been injured on duty, even if the two have the same employment history. It also means that a deputy who retires after taking leave due to a non-job-related injury, perhaps a ski accident, might collect more than a deputy who retires after having suffered an injury in the course of his or her duties.