NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4742
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 Bord to sched-
ule a hearing within 45 days after the application of a party; and spec-
ifies 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 cost's are often shifted
to private insurers, union health care funds, taxpayers, and the injured
workers and their families.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023: A6208 - Vetoed; Veto Memo 91
2024: A8988A - amended and recommitted to labor
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4742
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 6, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, LUNSFORD, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, RAGA, LUCAS,
HEVESI, SHRESTHA, SANTABARBARA, DAVILA, COLTON, MEEKS -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Labor
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 amended by chapter 635 of the laws of 1996 and as renumbered by
9 section 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-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06076-02-5
A. 4742 2
1 ted under this section, or such hearing closed, shall make or deny an
2 award, determining such claim for compensation, and file the same in the
3 office of the chair. No application for a hearing made by a party or an
4 attorney pursuant to this section shall be subject to limitations,
5 prerequisites, or penalties imposed by the board. Immediately after such
6 filing the chair shall send to the parties a copy of the decision. Upon
7 a hearing pursuant to this section either party may present evidence and
8 be represented by counsel. The decision of the board shall be final as
9 to all questions of fact, and, except as provided in section twenty-
10 three of this article, as to all questions of law. Except as provided
11 in section twenty-seven of this article, all awards of the board shall
12 draw simple interest from thirty days after the making thereof at the
13 rate provided in section five thousand four of the civil practice law
14 and rules. Whenever a hearing or proceeding for the determination of a
15 claim for compensation is begun before a referee, pursuant to the
16 provisions of this chapter, such hearing or proceeding or any adjourned
17 hearing thereon shall continue before the same referee until a final
18 determination awarding or denying compensation, except in the absence,
19 inability or disqualification to act of such referee, or for other good
20 cause, in which event such hearing or proceeding may be continued before
21 another referee by order of the chair or board.
22 § 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 25 of the workers'
23 compensation law, as amended by chapter 61 of the laws of 1986, is
24 amended to read as follows:
25 (c) The board shall keep an accurate record of all hearings held. All
26 decisions shall be issued to the injured worker in their native
27 language. Whenever a hearing must be continued or adjourned because the
28 carrier or employer has engaged in dilatory tactics or exhibited unjus-
29 tified lack of preparedness, the board shall impose a penalty of twen-
30 ty-five dollars to be paid to the fund created by subdivision two of
31 section one hundred fifty-one of this chapter and shall in addition make
32 an award of seventy-five dollars payable to the injured worker or [his
33 or her dependants] their dependents. Dilatory tactics may include but
34 shall not be limited to: failing to subpoena medical witnesses or to
35 secure an order to show cause as directed by the referee, failing to
36 bring proper files, failing to appear, failing to produce witnesses or
37 documents after they have been requested by the referee or examiner or
38 as directed by the hearing notice, unnecessarily protracting the
39 production of evidence, or engaging in a pattern of delay which unduly
40 delays resolution, except that no penalty shall be imposed nor award
41 made under this subdivision if the carrier or employer produces evidence
42 sufficient to excuse its conduct to the satisfaction of the referee.
43 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
