New York Workers' Compensation: Deadlines, Benefits and How to File

Workers' compensation insurance is mandatory for most employers with one or more employees, including part-time workers, family members and unpaid volunteers of for-profit businesses. Coverage can be bought from a private carrier or the State Insurance Fund (NYSIF), or an employer can be approved to self-insure. Exceptions include sole proprietors, partnerships and LLCs with no employees, and one- or two-person corporations whose officers own all the stock and have no other workers. All farms with employees must carry coverage (a farmer's spouse and minor children are not counted unless under an express contract of hire). Household employers must cover a domestic worker employed 40 or more hours a week (or who lives in), but not domestic workers who each work under 40 hours a week and do not live on the premises. In construction, a worker is presumed to be the contractor's employee unless a statutory independent-contractor test is met.

Notify the employer in writing as soon as possible, and within 30 days of the injury. A worker who does not notify the employer within 30 days may lose the right to workers' compensation benefits.

File an Employee Claim (Form C-3) with the Workers' Compensation Board as soon as possible. It must be filed within two years of the accident, or for an occupational disease, within two years after the worker knew or should have known the condition was caused by the job. Death claims must be filed within two years of the worker's death.

Lost wage benefits are not paid for the first seven days of disability unless the disability lasts more than 14 days; after 14 days, benefits are paid from the first day the worker was unable to work. Medical care is provided regardless of how long the disability lasts. If the claim is accepted, payments should begin within 18 days of the injury or within 10 days after the employer learned of it, whichever is later.

The weekly benefit is two-thirds of the worker's average weekly wage for the prior year, multiplied by the degree of disability shown in the medical evidence (for example, total 100%, marked 75%, moderate 50%, mild 25%). A worker who returns to work at lower pay may receive two-thirds of the difference between current and pre-injury wages. If wages are below the minimum benefit, the worker receives full wages.

For injuries from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, the maximum weekly benefit is $1,281.50 and the minimum is $384.45 (or the worker's actual wages, if less). For injuries from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, the maximum was $1,222.42 (minimum $325 for injuries in 2025). The maximum is two-thirds of the prior year's New York State Average Weekly Wage and is adjusted each July 1; the rate is fixed by the date of injury.

Except in an emergency, the worker must be treated by a health care provider authorized by the Workers' Compensation Board; the worker may choose any Board-authorized provider, including his or her own doctor if authorized. If the employer uses a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), the worker must start treatment with a PPO provider but may switch to any authorized provider outside the PPO after 30 days by notifying the insurer in writing. Workers in a union construction Alternate Dispute Resolution program must use participating providers. The insurer may require an independent medical examination.

A Schedule Loss of Use (SLU) award is an additional payment for permanent loss of use of listed body parts, limited to a number of weeks set by law based on the body part and severity, minus temporary benefits already paid. Permanent injuries to body parts or conditions not on the schedule (non-schedule) are paid based on loss of wage-earning capacity; for accidents on or after March 13, 2007, payments are capped at a number of weeks tied to that loss (for example, 525 weeks for a loss greater than 95%). Permanent facial, head or neck disfigurement may qualify for an award of up to $20,000.

If a worker dies from a work injury or illness, the surviving spouse and/or minor children or other legal dependents receive weekly benefits of two-thirds of the worker's average weekly wage, up to the maximum for the date of injury regardless of the number of dependents. If there are no such dependents, surviving parents or the estate may receive $50,000. Funeral expenses are covered up to $12,500 in Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester counties and up to $10,500 elsewhere. File a Claim for Compensation in Death Case (Form C-62) within two years of the death.

Give the employer written notice and file an Employee Claim (Form C-3) with the Board, online or on paper; if the same body part was injured before, also file a Limited Release of Health Information (Form C-3.3). The employer must notify its insurer within 10 days if treatment beyond first aid or lost time is involved. An insurer that disputes a claim must file a notice of controversy within 18 days after disability begins or 10 days after learning of the injury, whichever is later. To ask the Board to act on an issue, a worker can file a Request for Assistance (Form RFA-1W). Disputes may be resolved by administrative decision, conciliation, or a hearing before a Workers' Compensation Law Judge. The Board's Advocate for Injured Workers can help.

A party has 30 days from the filing of a Workers' Compensation Law Judge's decision (or a final administrative decision) to request administrative review by the Board; the other side then has 30 days to file a rebuttal, and a three-member Board panel issues a memorandum of decision. Within 30 days of that decision, a party may request full Board review. Panel decisions, denials of full Board review and full Board decisions may be appealed to the Appellate Division, Third Department. A final proposed conciliation decision cannot be appealed.

An employer may not discriminate against a worker for filing or planning to file a workers' compensation claim, or for testifying or planning to testify in a claim. An employer may still fill the job of a worker who cannot work for business reasons, or discipline or fire a worker for a separate legitimate reason. A worker who believes he or she was discriminated against can file a Discrimination Claim (Form DC-120) with the Board within two years. If the Board finds improper termination, it will order the worker restored to the position and paid for lost compensation.

Temporary total disability and permanent total disability benefits are paid for as long as the total disability continues (temporary benefits subject to other provisions of the law). For a permanent partial disability that is not a schedule loss (for example, back injuries), benefits for accidents on or after March 13, 2007 are capped at a maximum number of weeks based on the worker's loss of wage-earning capacity, ranging from 225 weeks (loss of 15% or less) to 525 weeks (loss greater than 95%); for accidents before March 13, 2007, they are payable as long as the partial disability exists and causes wage loss. A schedule loss of use award (for example, an arm, leg, hand or eye) is limited to a number of weeks set by law for the body part and severity, minus temporary benefits already paid.

A claim can be settled with a Section 32 waiver agreement, in which the parties agree on the compensation and other benefits owed. The agreement must be submitted to the Workers' Compensation Board and cannot be approved until 10 calendar days after submission. It may be approved by the Board Chair or designee, a Board member, or a Workers' Compensation Law Judge, and the Board must approve it unless it finds it unfair, unconscionable, improper as a matter of law, or the result of an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact. A hearing is scheduled unless all parties (other than minors and unrepresented claimants) request a desk review or the agreement settles only indemnity (cash) benefits. Agreements may settle medical benefits too; they must state the amount or percentage for medical care and include an allocation for future medical expenses when future treatment is expected. A Board decision approving the agreement is not subject to the usual Board review, though it may be modified later if all interested parties agree and the Board approves.

Notify your employer of a work injury within 30 days. File an Employee Claim (Form C-3) with the New York Workers' Compensation Board online, by mail or email, or in person at a Board office, within two years of the accident (or of when you knew or should have known an illness was work-related). Check your claim and documents in eCase, the Board's electronic case folder. Board customer service (toll-free): (877) 632-4996, Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., with free language assistance.

In New York workers' compensation cases, hiring an attorney or licensed representative is optional. All fees for attorneys and licensed representatives are set by the Workers' Compensation Board and are deducted from lost-wage awards; you should never pay an attorney or representative directly. Free help: the Board's Office of the Advocate for Injured Workers helps workers who have difficulty getting benefits and holds free monthly webinars ((877) 632-4996, AdvInjWkr@wcb.ny.gov), and free legal help is available in medical-only cases through the Injured Workers Legal Assistance Project.

Generally no: an employer's workers' compensation liability is exclusive and in place of any other liability to the employee and family, and compensation is also the exclusive remedy for injuries caused by a co-worker's negligence. Exception: if the employer failed to secure compensation, the employee may choose either to claim workers' compensation or to sue the employer in court, where the employer cannot rely on the worker's contributory negligence, a fellow servant's negligence or assumption of risk. A third party who is sued (for example under the scaffold law) cannot obtain contribution or indemnity from the employer unless the worker suffered a statutory 'grave injury' (such as death, amputation or permanent total loss of use of a limb, paralysis, total blindness or deafness, or certain permanent brain injuries) or the employer agreed in writing.

Yes. An injured worker does not have to choose between workers' compensation and a lawsuit against a negligent third party; the worker may take benefits and sue. The carrier or fund that paid benefits has a lien on the recovery, after reasonable litigation expenses including attorney fees. Notice that the lawsuit has been started must be given to the carrier within 30 days, and a settlement for less than the compensation owed generally needs the carrier's written consent or a court compromise order; if the worker does not sue within the time allowed, the claim can be assigned to the carrier.

If an employer has not secured workers' compensation, the worker may either claim benefits or sue the employer in court without the employer's usual defenses. Awards against an uninsured employer are paid promptly from the Uninsured Employers' Fund, and the employer remains liable, with a corporation's president, secretary and treasurer personally, jointly and severally liable. The Board can assess the employer up to $1,000 for each 10 days of non-compliance (or up to twice the cost of compensation for its payroll during that period), and the assessments are liens on the employer's assets.

A party may apply to the Workers' Compensation Board for review of a workers' compensation law judge's award or decision within 30 days after notice of its filing. A Board decision may be appealed to the Appellate Division, Third Department, within 30 days after notice of the Board's decision is served on the parties.