HB 1040 changesBattery against school and healthcare employees.

What changed

+694 / −414 words · LargeConfidence: high

This version removes the 'vulnerable worker' concept entirely and replaces it with specific protections for 'health care employee' and 'school employee.' The bill shifts from incident-based reporting (with 8-hour and 24-hour deadlines) to semiannual reporting periods covering January-June (due August 1) and July-December (due February 1), effective July 1, 2027. The reporting requirements become more detailed, requiring employers to report victim job titles, dates, locations, battery circumstances (striking, biting, pushing, kicking, weapon use), hospitalization status, and law enforcement involvement. Criminal penalties remain at Level 6 felony for battery causing bodily injury to these employees when committed during work, while commuting, or in retaliation for work-related acts, with an exception for persons detained under IC 12-26. The bill moves provisions from labor code (IC 22-8) to insurance code (IC 27-10) and criminal definitions (IC 35-31.5, IC 35-42), representing a structural reorganization alongside substantive changes to scope and timing.

Change log

• SECTION 4 > (b)

  removedhigh confidence

  Employer reporting deadline provision removed

  The subsection establishing a deadline for employer reporting has been removed entirely. The text previously required employers to make reports within a specified timeframe, but this timing requirement no longer exists in the amended version. This deletion eliminates the temporal obligation previously imposed on employers.

• SECTION 4 > (1)

  removedhigh confidence

  Eight-hour reporting deadline for incidents resulting in death or hospitalization removed

  This subsection previously required reporting within eight hours after an incident that resulted in the death or hospitalization of the victim. The entire provision has been deleted from the statute. This removes one of the time-specific reporting requirements that previously existed in the law.

• SECTION 11

  removedhigh confidence

  Definition cross-reference for 'Relative' removed entirely

  This section previously provided a definition of 'Relative' for purposes of the battery statute (IC 35-42-2-1), cross-referencing IC 35-42-2-1(b) or section 1(a). The entire definitional provision has been removed. The meaning of 'relative' in the battery statute will now depend on other statutory provisions or the removal may reflect that the term is no longer used in the referenced statute.

• SECTION 3 > (6)

  addedhigh confidence