How the New Alabama Educator Injury Law Differs from Workers’ Compensation

There’s some good news for Alabama public school employees (in addition to summer breaks and the occasional snow day). In April 2025, the Maryann Leonard Educators’ On-The-Job Injury Act was signed into law.

Full-time public school employees in Alabama do not have standard workers’ compensation benefit coverage under the general Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act in the same way private-sector or most other public employees do. This includes teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and so on. If one of these employees was injured at work, they would need to seek reimbursement through the Alabama Board of Adjustment for medical bills, or they could use accrued sick leave.

The new Act, signed in 2025, is a significant change to benefits for public school employees. This act creates a comprehensive program to provide compensation and medical benefits for full-time public education employees who are injured on the job. 

The new Public Education Employee Injury Compensation Board includes a special trust fund for work-related injuries to educators. Like workers’ compensation, this program has specific requirements for how and when to make claims, dispute resolution, and other issues. 

The legislation establishes:

• The employee must provide written notice of their injury within five working days; 
• Medical treatments are handled through the Public Education Employees’ Health Insurance Plan (PEEHIP); 
• The dispute resolution process involves a review board and hearing officers; 
• There is a two-year statute of limitations on claims.

The program will begin accepting claims by October 1, 2026. It is an exclusive remedy for work-related injuries for covered employees.

Who is covered under the new compensation law for educators?

• Covered employees:
  
  Full-time public K-12 education employees, including teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, instructional aides, etc., who are employed by city or county boards of education, the Alabama Institute for the Deaf, and other specific entities.
• Excluded employees:
  
  Part-time, substitute, temporary, non-full-time employees and volunteers are not covered under the new program.

Key benefits for Alabama public school employees

1. Salary continuation for up to 90 days
   
   The previous system required school employees to rely on accrued sick leave, personal leave, or reimbursement through the Board of Adjustment if they were injured at work—there was no guaranteed salary wage replacement. Under the new law, an employee may receive up to 90 days of full salary continuation for a qualifying work-related injury.
2. Direct payment of medical bills
   
   Eligible injured employees will have medical treatment bills paid directly via the Public Education Employees’ Health Insurance Program (PEEHIP) fee schedule, rather than relying purely on employer reimbursement. Copayments and deductibles could be reimbursed under certain conditions.
3. Trust fund and oversight board
   
   The Act creates the Public Education Employee Injury Compensation Board to administer the program and the Public Education Employee Injury Compensation Trust Fund to finance it (with initial seed funding of about $15.6 million).

How the Act for public school employees is different from workers’ compensation

There are a couple of key differences in how these plans work:

1. They are different statutes. The new law does mirror many familiar features of the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act (Ala. Code §25-5-1 et seq.), but it’s a distinct program for public education employees, and it includes its own rules, board, and fund. 
2. Notice and reporting requirements. The new Act requires written notice within five days of injury (or 30 days where the employee is incapacitated), which is shorter than some traditional workers’ compensation timelines.
3. Medical payment obligations. The board pays medical treatment under PEEHIP schedule. Unlike workers’ compensation, there is no explicit coverage for occupational or progressive disease claims. 
4. Appeals forum. The workers’ compensation system provides for hearings if the claimant wishes to appeal. The public education program uses its own board and permits appeals directly to the circuit court.

What school employees should know about the effects of the new law

The Maryann Leonard Educators’ On-The-Job Injury Act addresses a longstanding gap in compensation protections for Alabama public school employees. For the first time, they now have defined compensation protections. 

Employers (school districts) will need to update procedures, ensure reporting systems, coordinate with PEEHIP, and monitor risk exposures. An injured public education employee should act quickly to make a report, preserve documentation, and verify eligibility under the new program.

At this time, the program is not yet in full operation. The law indicates that it must be implemented no later than October 1, 2026. Therefore, early coordination between school employees, human resources departments, and legal advisers will set the tone for how claims are handled.

If you’re a school employee who was injured at work, take these steps:

1. Make a written report of the injury to your employer as soon as possible; 
2. Document the injury and treatment you received, including the date, time, how it occurred, names of witnesses, and photos of the scene; 
3. Retain medical records and bills because you might need to rely on an older reimbursement system until the Act is implemented; 
4. Check your eligibility by confirming full-time employment, exclusion of substitute/temporary status, and that your employer is participating; and 
5. Monitor the rollout, since the program begins by late 2026.

The 2025 law marks a significant shift in Alabama public education employment protections. While it is not identical to the general workers’ compensation system, it offers teachers, bus drivers, aides and other full-time staff access to salary replacement and direct medical payment—benefits they lacked before. As the program rolls out, awareness, timely reporting and procedural compliance will be key to ensuring injured educational employees receive the protections intended by the legislation.

The Nomberg Law Firm and our team of Birmingham workers’ compensation attorneys
are always paying attention to new laws that affect our clients and all Alabama residents.