Reduction Sought in Workers’ Claims

Alarmed that Los Angeles’ cost to cover employee injuries is skyrocketing, City Council members called Monday to speed up a workers’ compensation reform package to reduce claims.

The amount spent by the city to process and pay workers’ compensation claims has risen from about $80 million annually in 1991 to $116 million last year, despite goals to cut payouts by 20%, city officials said during a hearing Monday on the problem.

Council members Laura Chick and Jackie Goldberg recommended that the council pursue studies to determine what each city department is doing to promote worker safety, where improvements can be made, and whether additional staffing is needed to help reduce workers’ compensation claims.

“This is about saving enormous dollars and making the city a safer place to work,” said Chick, who heads the council’s Government Efficiency Committee.

Chick and Goldberg also recommended that the city administrative officer be authorized to hire a risk-management administrator to oversee a consolidated program approved two years ago but never fully enacted.

Chick voiced frustration and “impatience” with the pace of reforms first ordered by the City Council two years ago.

“It’s an embarrassment to the city that we can’t make progress in getting our arms around this,” she said.