Chick, Goldberg Demand Workers’ Comp Reforms

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

Councilwomen Laura Chick and Jackie Goldberg recommended 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 reduce workers’ compensation claims.

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

Chick and Goldberg recommended that the city administrative officer be authorized to hire a risk management administrator to oversee a consolidated program that was approved two years ago but never fully enacted. Chick voiced impatience with the pace of reforms ordered by the City Council two years ago.