Alabama Workers' Comp Blawg

New Alabama Law Provides Workers’ Compensation Benefits to Education Employees

On April 24, 2025, Governor Kay Ivey signed the Mary Anne Leonard Educators' On-The-Job Injury Act into law. Prior to this new law, public education employees had no access to workers’ compensation benefits. If they did not purchase private disability insurance, then they did not get paid if a work injury prevented them from working. Although they could previously request reimbursement for medical bills, the new law provides for the direct payment of medical bills pursuant to a fee schedule. The following is a breakdown of the key components of the new Act and how it compares to the traditional Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act.

Who is Maryann Leonard? Maryann (according to her FB page, this is how she spells her name) was an Alabama educator who hit her head in a freak accident while at work. The resulting injury turned out to be serious enough to prevent her from returning to her job as a teacher. She did not have disability insurance and, like all other public teachers in the state, had no access to workers’ compensation benefits. Her story of hardship became a catalyst for change which is why the new legislation bears her name.

Before: No weekly compensation was available to public education employees when they were out of work due to job injuries. Although an employee could submit incurred medical expenses for reimbursement, the process could be slow and there was no guarantee that the expense would be fully reimbursed.

Now: An employee’s salary can continue for up to 90 days post-accident. In addition, medical bills can now be paid directly through the Public Education Employees Health Insurance Program.

Who is Covered? Education employees such as teachers, bus drivers and lunchroom workers.

Who is not Covered? Part-time, substitute, temporary, non-full-time employees and volunteers.

How will the Compensation Aspect be Funded? The recently passed $10 billion education budget carved out $15.6 million to fund the Public Education Employee Injury Compensation Trust Fund.

When? The program shall begin accepting on-the-job injury claims on an implementation date declared and published by the board in consultation with the Board of Adjustment but not later than October 1, 2026.

How is the New Act Different from the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act?

The Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act has been around for over 100 years. When you consider the number of provisions, amendments, and interpretive cases generated in that time frame, the new Act could only address a small percentage of what is included in the older and more expansive WC Act. The below short list represents the more notable provisions addressed by the new Act that are significantly different from the traditional WC Act.

Notice: An employee must give notice within 5 days of the injury. This is extended to 30 days where employee died or is not clinically able to report the claim without assistance. This is different than the 90 days available per the Ala. WC Act. In addition, the Ala. WC Act no longer requires written notice whereas the new Act specifies that the notice must be in writing.

Injury Reporting Form: Employee is required to sign the form. If employer refuses to complete and submit an injury report form after receiving timely notice, then it has to provide written findings of fact that support its decision.

Dispute Resolution: Any disputes between an employee and employer are referred to the Public Education Employee Injury Compensation Program Review Board. Disputes can also be adjudicated by an appointed hearing officer upon request of either party.

Appeals: Appeals of any Board or Hearing Officer decisions are made to the Circuit Court of Montgomery County as opposed to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals.

Injury: It is not specifically defined as it is in the Ala. WC Act. Further, unlike the Ala. WC Act, there is no provision for the coverage of glasses or prosthetics that are damaged in an accident.

Temporary Indemnity: Instead of paying a percentage of the average weekly wage at the time of injury, the new law provides for full salary to be paid for up to 90 days. The door is also left open for the creation of a procedure to allow for additional paid weeks.

Occupational Disease: There is no mention of disease. This is most likely because Occ Disease statutes typically mandate that the disease be peculiar to the employment (i.e. black lung/coal industry). Since there are no diseases peculiar to education, it was probably intentionally left out.

Subrogation: Public Education Employees' Health Insurance Plan will pay medical bills subject to the applicable fee schedule and will retain subro rights against any responsible third party or the employee’s insurer that is responsible for the injury. Unlike the Ala. WC Act, there is no provision that the lien amount be reduced by a pro-rata share of the attorney fee (assuming an attorney was involved in the third party aspect).

Although the new Act is being referred to as workers’ compensation legislation it is not the traditional model that provides for unlimited weekly compensation benefits during a period of temporary disability nor does it provide for the payment of permanent partial or permanent total disability benefits once the period of temporary disability is concluded. As such, the compensation aspect of this new Act is more comparable to a private disability insurance policy with a finite number of available weeks.

As with any new legislation, how it will be implemented and enforced remains unclear. One thing is for sure, the Public Education Employee Injury Compensation Program Review Board, the appointed hearing officers, and the Montgomery County Circuit Court will be kept busy in the years to come.

About the Author:

This article was prepared by Mike Fish, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers and funds, and third-party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this article or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Fish by e-mailing him at mfish@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at 205-332-1448.