White Collar Workers Account for More Workers’ Comp Claims

February 27, 2017

When people think of Workers’ Compensation and the sorts of injuries it generally covers, their thoughts toward turn factories and construction sites – physical, manual labor – not office jobs. They might be surprised to find out about a new study.

Results from a recent survey taken by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute show that while the economy was turning for the worse, claims from white collar workers have incrased.

Specifically, the Institute’s study says that between 2001 and 2008, workers’ compensation claims from professionals and clerical workers represented 16% of all claims in California, and 15 percent of all claims payments, but that looking at the year 2008 alone shows that claims from people in the same types of jobs represented 20 percent of all claims and claims payments.

According to the report, it is pretty obvious that the change in the distribution of workers’ compensation insurance claims is due to the economic downturn, which has led to significant downsizing in hard industries.

Despite the fact that the kinds of injuries reported by professional and clerical workers tend to be either muscle strains or repetitive motion injuries (like carpal tunnel syndrome), the California Workers’ Compensation Institute study also says that average payments on claims have risen. In 2005, the first-year losses on professional/clerical claims averaged around $9,700. By 2007, that number had risen to $13, 879.