June 12, 2018 by
Interested stakeholders in the workers’ compensation process are constantly seeking ways to reduce program costs.
One area includes the discontinuance of workers’ compensation benefits for school employees and teachers suffering from the effects of a work injury during the summer break period. While statues and case law interpretations vary in each jurisdiction, employers and insurers are generally limited in their ability to discontinue or suspend various workers’ compensation benefits for school employees during this time of year – even if they have no plans of looking for work while under restrictions on their activity.
Schools Out – Time to Discontinue Work Comp Benefits?
While the school year typically runs from late August through late May, employees of school districts around the country sustain work-related injuries every day. The ongoing effects of those work injuries do not magically disappear for summer break. Sadly, those hot summer days a teacher, paraprofessional or administrative staff employee would like to spend at a beach, can be spent at home convalescing. Proactive members of the claims management team might view this as an opportunity to discontinue ongoing wage loss and vocational rehabilitation benefits. Unfortunately, this is often not consistent with many state workers’ compensation laws via case law interpretation.
One case on point comes from Minnesota, where a school district sought to discontinue ongoing wage loss benefits at the conclusion of a school year.[1] The rationale for the discontinuance was based on the premise the employee did not intend to work during the summer months, and the result was no loss in wages. A compensation judge rejected this argument and affirmed by the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals.
It may be time to examine the impact of collateral resources, often resulting in employees out on workers compensation receiving more income and benefits than they would have if they were working.