Why Injury Management is Essential: What Claims Really Cost Employers Employers pay both directly and indirectly for the cost of employee injuries. Directly, the employer faces increased Experience Modification factors for three years and lost dividends and return of premium. While it has been shown that employers pay $2 to $3 back to the insurance company for every $1 paid out for many employee injuries, indirect costs are even more significant. In fact, on average indirect costs exceed direct costs by 4:1. These include lost productivity, training costs, overtime, increased stress for supervisors and fellow employees, schedule delays, unhappy customers, morale problems from having temporary employees and legal fees. Moreover, the longer employees are away from the job, the less likely they will return to work. Statistics show that at 12 weeks employees have only a 50% chance of ever getting back on the job. The chart below indicates how much revenue is required to pay for an accident.