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A08988 Summary:

BILL NOA08988A
 
SAME ASSAME AS S08445-A
 
SPONSORBronson
 
COSPNSRLunsford, Gonzalez-Rojas, Ardila, Raga, Lucas, Hevesi, Shrestha, Santabarbara
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §§20 & 25, Work Comp L
 
Provides that either party to a workers compensation claim can request a hearing; requires a record of all hearings held.
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A08988 Actions:

BILL NOA08988A
 
01/31/2024referred to labor
02/08/2024amend (t) and recommit to labor
02/08/2024print number 8988a
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A08988 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A8988A
 
SPONSOR: Bronson
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to the parties' rights to a hearing upon application to the workers' compen- sation board and requiring a record of all hearings held   PURPOSE: This bill would provide injured workers with an initial hearing in every case, so that they may appear before a referee in order to understand their rights and obligations under the Worker's Compensation Law, and to provide all parties with a hearing within 45 days of the filing of their request, so that issues may be resolved quickly.   SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section one would amend Section 20 of the Worker's Compensation Law to require the Board to index a claim for worker's compensation immediately upon receipt of a medical report from an injured worker or an employer. Section two would amend Section 20 of the Workers' Compensation Law to provide each injured worker with a fair hearing in their case within 60 days after the claim is indexed by the Board; directs the Board to sche- dule a hearing within 45 days after the application of a party; and specifies that no applications for a heating made present to the section shall be subject to limitations imposed by the board. Section three would amend Section 25 of the Workers! Compensation Law to require that the board keep accurate stenographic records of all hear- ings, and that all decisions be issued to the injured worker in their native language. Section four would establish the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: Section 20 of the Workers' Compensation Law provides that "board shall make or cause to be made such investigation as it deems necessary, and upon application of either party, shall order a hearing." Section 25(2-b) of the Workers' Compensation Law provides a "conciliation" proc- ess pursuant to which the Board is required to schedule a meeting before a conciliator in order to obtain the parties' agreement to appropriate findings and awards. In practice, however, the Board neither schedules conciliation meetings and rarely honors the parties' applications for hearings. Instead, the Board routinely makes findings of fact and law by the unilateral issu- ance of "proposed conciliation decisions." Such decisions are often issued absent the request of any party,- are not the result of a meeting or hearing, and are issued in English only, and using language that requires a high degree of both literacy and familiarity with the work- ers' compensation system. Moreover, the Board routinely delays or denies the applications_ of parties for hearings, frequently responding with administrative correspondence or proposed decisions that are an inade- quate substitute for a fair hearing on the issues. These administrative processes do not provide meaningful information to injured workers about their rights and benefits under the Workers' Compensation Law. This is especially true for workers with language or literacy barriers. When workers are unable to access workers' compen- sation benefits for workplace injuries, those costs are often shifted to private insurers, union health care funds, taxpayers, and the injured workers and their families.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2023-2024: A6208 - Vetoed; Veto Memo 91   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act would take effect immediately.
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A08988 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         8988--A
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 31, 2024
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Labor -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered  reprinted
          as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  workers'  compensation  law, in relation to the
          parties' rights to a hearing upon application to the workers'  compen-
          sation board and requiring a record of all hearings held

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3  of  section  20  of  the  workers'
     2  compensation law are renumbered subdivisions 2, 3 and 4 and a new subdi-
     3  vision 1 is added to read as follows:
     4    1. The board shall index a claim for workers' compensation immediately
     5  upon the receipt of a medical report in addition to either a claim filed
     6  by the injured worker or an employer's report of injury or illness.
     7    §  2.   Subdivision  2 of section 20 of the workers' compensation law,
     8  as added by chapter 635 of the laws of 1996 and as renumbered by section
     9  one of this act, is amended to read as follows:
    10    2. [At any time after the expiration of the first seven days of  disa-
    11  bility  on  the  part  of  an injured employee, or at any time after the
    12  employee's death, a claim for  compensation  may  be  presented  to  the
    13  employer  or  to  the  chair.  The]  Within sixty days after a claim for
    14  compensation has been indexed, the board shall hold an  initial  hearing
    15  for  each  claim  in which the injured worker asserts lost wages or lost
    16  time due to injury and shall have full power and authority to  determine
    17  all  questions  in relation to the payment of claims presented to it for
    18  compensation under the provisions of this chapter. The  chair  or  board
    19  shall thereafter make or cause to be made such investigation as it deems
    20  necessary,  and  upon application of either party or an attorney repres-
    21  enting either party, shall order a hearing  before  a  referee  to  take
    22  place  within  forty-five  calendar  days of the application from either
    23  party, and within thirty days after a claim for compensation is  submit-
    24  ted  under  this  section, or such hearing closed, shall make or deny an
    25  award, determining such claim for compensation, and file the same in the
    26  office of the chair.  No application for a hearing made by a party or an
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09993-03-4

        A. 8988--A                          2
 
     1  attorney pursuant to this  section  shall  be  subject  to  limitations,
     2  prerequisites, or penalties imposed by the board. Immediately after such
     3  filing the chair shall send to the parties a copy of the decision.  Upon
     4  a hearing pursuant to this section either party may present evidence and
     5  be  represented by counsel.  The decision of the board shall be final as
     6  to all questions of fact, and, except as  provided  in  section  twenty-
     7  three  of  this article, as to all questions of law.  Except as provided
     8  in section twenty-seven of this article, all awards of the  board  shall
     9  draw  simple  interest  from thirty days after the making thereof at the
    10  rate provided in section five thousand four of the  civil  practice  law
    11  and  rules.  Whenever a hearing or proceeding for the determination of a
    12  claim for compensation is  begun  before  a  referee,  pursuant  to  the
    13  provisions  of this chapter, such hearing or proceeding or any adjourned
    14  hearing thereon shall continue before the same  referee  until  a  final
    15  determination  awarding  or denying compensation, except in the absence,
    16  inability or disqualification to act of such referee, or for other  good
    17  cause, in which event such hearing or proceeding may be continued before
    18  another referee by order of the chair or board.
    19    §  3.  Paragraph  (c)  of  subdivision 3 of section 25 of the workers'
    20  compensation law, as amended by chapter 61  of  the  laws  of  1986,  is
    21  amended to read as follows:
    22    (c) The board shall keep an accurate record of all hearings held.  All
    23  decisions  shall  be  issued to the injured   worker   in  their  native
    24  language. Whenever a hearing must be continued or adjourned because  the
    25  carrier  or employer has engaged in dilatory tactics or exhibited unjus-
    26  tified lack of preparedness, the board shall impose a penalty  of  twen-
    27  ty-five  dollars  to  be  paid to the fund created by subdivision two of
    28  section one hundred fifty-one of this chapter and shall in addition make
    29  an award of seventy-five dollars payable to the injured worker or his or
    30  her dependants. Dilatory tactics may include but shall  not  be  limited
    31  to:  failing to subpoena medical witnesses or to secure an order to show
    32  cause as directed by the referee, failing to bring proper files, failing
    33  to  appear,  failing  to  produce witnesses or documents after they have
    34  been requested by the referee or examiner or as directed by the  hearing
    35  notice,  unnecessarily protracting the production of evidence, or engag-
    36  ing in a pattern of delay which unduly delays resolution, except that no
    37  penalty shall be imposed nor award made under this  subdivision  if  the
    38  carrier  or  employer produces evidence sufficient to excuse its conduct
    39  to the satisfaction of the referee.
    40    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
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