Dropping Workers’ Compensation Claims for Students to Employees: Gallagher Basset

The number of workers’ compensation claims for employee bullying of students at school dropped significantly in the 2023-24 school year, according to data from Gallagher Basset.

This change comes after two years of increased applications after the 2020-21 school year.

Citing the number of clients covering around 2,000 schools and 1.25 million students across the country, Gallagher Basset found that such workplace compensation claims were down 39% from the 2022-2023 school year – the total cost of the damages sustained decreased by almost 50%.

“We’ve seen the frequency go down, the absolute number of claims reported is down and then we’ve seen the average severity go down as well,” said Greg McKenna, national practice leader, public sector, at Gallagher Bassett. “That was a significant achievement in numbers.”

Gallagher Basset, an Illinois-based third-party insurance and risk partner, defined assault claims as those that include being struck or injured by a student, bitten by a student, or any other type of human violence and alleged student-to-student aggression. school employee. The dates of each school year are between July 1 and May 31.

Figures dating back to 2017 show that the number of school student and staff bullying claims and the total costs incurred reached high levels during the 2022-23 school year. The number of claims reached 1,426 that year, and the total costs incurred reached $9.7 million.

“We looked at the frequency and the total number of claims (and) the average cost per claim in the two years before the pandemic,” McKenna explained. “And then I compared that to two years later. And we happened to see a pretty significant increase in those immediate, two-year datasets after the Covid year.”

However, last school year, the number of assault claims dropped to 868, and the total costs incurred fell below $5 million. When talking about that drop, McKenna said the hope is that the data “suggests that maybe we’ve seen a high watermark in the two years post-Covid.”

He added that he could not speak to the exact cause of the declines, but pointed to the return to normal school structure as well as the prolific media coverage surrounding the issue of student-teacher violence as possible factors. raising awareness of the issue.

Addressing de-escalation skills previously seen only in law enforcement or first responders and attending de-escalation training to learn the warning signs and how to respond appropriately is something McKenna has heard anecdotally about that it is an emerging theme of risk management success.

He also pointed out that states like California, which has implemented legislation like Senate Bill 553, which requires virtually all employers to develop, implement and maintain an “effective” written workplace violence prevention plan, train employees and create and maintain extensive records of workplace violence.

He believes that as employers get used to these practices in California, stories of exciting risk management initiatives that have helped reduce workplace violence will begin to spread across the country.