Taxpayers are paying more than ever for workplace injuries

Taxpayers are spending more than ever paying city employees injured on the job.

Workers compensation-claim payouts totaled $25.7 million in 2017, a 10-year high, and a 109-percent increase from 2008, according to city Law Department data.

Last year, 18,604 injured employees were paid worker’s comp, 20 percent more than in 2008, and the average payout — which typically includes medical costs and lost wages — was $1,381. The average claim in 2008 was $793.

While the city’s payroll is larger than ever, the increase in claims has outpaced the growth of the city’s workforce.

Employees at five of the city’s seven largest agencies collect the bulk of the workers’ comp claims every year: the Departments of Correction and Education, the city’s Health and Hospitals Corp., and the Police and Fire Departments.

In 2017, injuries plagued New York’s Boldest, which has seen a whopping 219 percent increase in the number of claims since 2008. The union has blamed the bump, which was first reported by The Chief Leader, on violence at the city’s jails.

The number of injured DOE employees also reached a 10-year-high last year, with 3,388 workers successfully filing claims.

The number of injured police and firefighters has declined by 15 and 13 percents, respectively, since 2008.