Workers' Comp Running Big Bills

Coalfield school systems rack up high costs for state

The Charleston Gazette, June 14, 2005

Is it three times more dangerous to work for Logan County Schools than the average West Virginia school system? A new report by the state Workers’ Compensation Commission says that school employees in Logan County are three times more likely to file an injury claim than the state average. But the report suggests many of those claims are not legitimate.

Ten of the 12 county school boards with the highest workers’ compensation rates are, like Logan County, in the southern coalfields, according to the report. Workers’ Compensation officials say there is no legitimate reason why claims are so much higher in some counties than others. They say a handful of school employees in those counties are taking advantage of the system.

In one county, five employees filed workers’ comp claims the day before school ended. That allows them to continue getting paid over the summer when they normally wouldn’t, said David Casto of the Workers’ Compensation Commission. “Every dollar paid for workers’ comp is a dollar taken from the school system,” Casto said.

School boards will pay more than $20 million in workers’ compensation premiums this year, according to the report, which was presented to legislators Monday. Their premiums have gone up 16 percent since last year, according to the state Department of Education. Since 1990, workers’ comp rates have more than doubled for county school systems.

School administrators say overly generous workers’ comp payments are to blame. Unlike other workers, school employees can take home more money while on workers’ comp than when they were working. Workers’ comp will pay two-thirds of an injured worker’s salary. In addition, school employees can use their sick leave to make up the remaining one-third of the salary.

Since the workers’ comp payment is tax-free, injured school employees end up making more money than when they were working, the report says.

Perry Bryant of the West Virginia Education Association defended the current system. Employees earned their sick leave and should be able to use it if they are injured, he said. “That one-third is deducted from their sick leave,” Bryant said. “The school board doesn’t pay it, the employee pays it.”

Also, school employees who take the summer off can use workers’ comp to continue getting a paycheck, Casto said.

Finally, injured school employees can’t be forced to work a different, less stressful job as they recover from their injuries. For example, a bus driver can’t be asked to take a desk job until he recovers.

The report recommends changing state law so school employees will have more incentives to return to work.

County school boards are trying to reduce injuries, Casto said. Several have hired safety coordinators, for example.

The Legislature used to bail out counties with high premiums, but no more. This year lawmakers decided not to send extra money to those school systems. Since 1996, state taxpayers have given $8.3 million to help pay workers’ comp premiums for high-cost school districts, mostly in the southern coalfields.

Logan County received approximately $1.4 million in extra payments for workers’ comp; Raleigh, $1.1 million; Mingo, $910,000; Lincoln, $820,000; McDowell, $730,000, Wyoming, $560,000, and Kanawha, $520,000, according to the state Department of Education.

This year, the counties with higher workers’ comp rates than the state average of $1.38 per $100 in payroll were Logan, $3.82; Mingo, $3.41; Wyoming, $3.40; Raleigh, $2.35; McDowell, $2.25; Nicholas, $2.23; Wayne, $2.03; Hancock, $2.00; Boone, $1.90; Monongalia, $1.88; Lincoln, $1.78; Fayette, $1.65; Tucker, $1.63; Brooke, $1.58; Cabell, $1.57; Putnam $1.47; and Kanawha $1.39.

Berkeley, Pleasants, Hardy, Mason, and Wirt county schools had the lowest workers’ comp rates.