Employees in the educational field are subject to a variety of work injuries. Slips and falls are common, as well as repetitive injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
Unfortunately, an increasing number of educators are injured intentionally by students. We all see the horrific school shootings, but physical injuries from acts such as punching, kicking and biting are also on the rise.
Some of this is attributed to the lack of socialization for some students, and a lack of mental health resources. The Covid-19 pandemic certainly didn’t help matters, either!
The problem is so pervasive that recently the Nebraska legislature passed a law doing away with the usual waiting time for disability benefits.
Nebraska Revised Statute 79-8,106 states in part:
If an employee of a school district is physically injured by another individual who intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to such employee and such injury occurs within the employee’s scope of employment in a manner that would be covered by the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act, the employee shall receive injury leave and be paid their usual salary in full for such time as the employee is absent and unable to work as a result of such injury not to exceed seven calendar days. Thereafter, the employee shall use workers’ compensation benefits as necessary and available in accordance with the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act…
The rules and benefits for educational employees may be different from the usual workers’ compensation cases. If you are an educational employee with a work injury, call us today.
