What a Rise in Older Workers Means for Comp

March 1, 2026

As older workers remain in or reenter the labor force, the workers compensation industry is zeroing in on an area where claims tend to be more severe, medically complex and costly.

“Our workers compensation data clearly show that the percentage of the workforce that is older is growing,” said Rich Ives, Hartford, Connecticut-based senior vice president of business insurance claim for Travelers. “That comes with favorable impacts — lower injury frequency — and unfavorable ones, including higher severity and longer time out of work.”

Older workers tend to be more experienced and “less risky in their behaviors,” he said, but recovery is often slower because of reduced physical resilience and a higher likelihood of comorbidities such as diabetes, arthritis or obesity.

“When someone has one comorbidity, the cost of a workers compensation claim can double,” he said. “With two or more, costs can increase fivefold.”

In recent years, Sedgwick has seen a data point in its pool of claims that hinted at trouble: In 2024, the largest year-over-year increase in workers compensation claims came from employees ages 60 and older, rising 2.8% over 2023.

“It’s not a huge number, but it does show that they are having more injuries each and every year over the last few years than the other age groups within the employment pool,” said Max Koonce, Bentonville, Arkansas-based chief claims officer at Sedgwick.

Other data shows that the average indemnity duration for older workers is nine days longer than for younger workers and costs 35% more both in income replacement costs and in medical costs, he said.

Economic pressures are a major driver of older workers remaining in the labor force past traditional retirement age. U.S. Census data shows that workers 55 and older have steadily increased their share of the labor force over the past two decades, rising from roughly 10% of workers in the mid-1990s to nearly 25% by 2022.

About half of the private-sector workforce lacks access to employer-sponsored retirement savings plans, said Chris Farrell, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based journalist and author of “Unretirement: How Baby Boomers Are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community, and the Good Life.”

“For many workers, working longer is not about staying busy — it’s about necessity,” he said.

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