{"id":350081,"date":"2026-06-07T00:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T00:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/350081\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T00:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T00:56:09","slug":"rams-chargers-49ers-support-the-proposed-california-workers-compensation-law-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/350081\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams, Chargers, 49ers support the proposed California workers’ compensation law change"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL Players Association \u201cstrongly opposes<\/a>\u201d the proposed changes to the California workers\u2019 compensation laws, which would limit the rights of professional athletes. The NFL teams headquartered in the state \u2014 the Rams, the Chargers, and the 49ers \u2014 support the bill.<\/p>\n

Although neither the NFL nor any of the California-based teams have made a public statement in that regard, the sponsor of the bill (Senator Laura Richardson) has indicated in a summary of the proposed legislation that the NFL and the three California teams support it.<\/p>\n

She also states that Major League Baseball (including the L.A. Dodgers, the San Francisco Giants, the San Diego Padres, and the Sacramento A\u2019s), the NHL (including the L.A. Kings, the Anaheim Ducks, and the San Jose Sharks), the Premiere Lacrosse League, the Women\u2019s Lacrosse League, Major League Soccer, and the ECHL support the bill.<\/p>\n

Neither the NBA nor any of its California-based teams (the L.A. Lakers, the L.A. Clippers, and the Golden State Warriors) are identified by Richardson as supporting the bill.<\/p>\n

The NFLPA has separately sent to players and certified agents an email regarding the potential impacts of the legislation.<\/p>\n

The emails, obtained by PFT, explain that the bill \u201cwould greatly change how NFL players access benefits for career-related injuries, particularly cumulative trauma claims.\u201d <\/p>\n

The bill, per the NFLPA, \u201cnarrows the ability to file claims tied to long-term, career-related wear and tear \u2014 one of the primary avenues for players seeking coverage.\u201d It also imposes “[t]ighter eligibility for California claims,\u201d by redefining \u201cwhat qualifies as a California-based team, limiting when and where players can bring claims in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NFLPA contends that the bill shifts \u201cliability away from clubs and increases the likelihood that players bear a greater share of injury-related medical costs,\u201d and that it applies \u201ca narrower set of circumstances . . . to a player\u2019s final California team, reducing flexibility in pursuing benefits.\u201d <\/p>\n

The bill, per the NFLPA, also applies retroactively \u201cto active and pending claims that have not yet been finalized, introducing risk for clients who have already filed or are in process.\u201d <\/p>\n

This is at least the third time an effort has commenced to change the California workers\u2019 compensation laws to the detriment of professional athletes. <\/p>\n

As to the NFL, the costs for workers\u2019 compensation insurance are currently baked into the Collective Bargaining Agreement. And it\u2019s possible that supporting the changes constitutes an effort by the NFL to circumvent the CBA.<\/p>\n

In that regard, the union should perhaps push for a clear commitment in the next CBA that the NFL will not support any efforts to restrict players\u2019 rights under the workers\u2019 compensation laws in any states where the NFL does business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL Players Association \u201cstrongly opposes\u201d the proposed changes to the California workers\u2019 compensation laws, which would limit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-350081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}