01Who's covered by NY workers' comp?
If you are an employee in New York and you got hurt doing your job, you are almost certainly covered. There is no waiting period and no minimum-hours requirement. Coverage starts on day one of employment.
Most disputes about coverage come down to one of three issues:
- Misclassification. Some employers classify workers as independent contractors when, legally, they're employees. The Workers' Compensation Board looks at the substance of the relationship — control, supervision, who provides the tools — not the label.
- Off-the-books work. Cash workers are still covered. The challenge is proving the wage. Bank deposits, texts about pay, and co-worker testimony become important.
- Federal jurisdiction. A handful of categories — longshoremen, federal employees, certain railroad workers — are covered by separate federal systems, not the NY Board.
02What to do in the first 30 days.
The early steps decide more than people realize. Two deadlines especially matter: the 30-day notice rule (WCL § 18) and the 2-year filing rule (WCL § 28).
- Get medical care immediately. Tell the provider this is a work injury. The treatment notes are evidence — if your provider doesn't write that you said you hurt your back lifting at work, the carrier will eventually argue causation.
- Notify your employer in writing within 30 days (WCL § 18). Verbal notice is not enough. Email counts. Text counts. A written incident report is best.
- See a Workers' Compensation Board–authorized provider. Once the emergency is over, ongoing treatment generally must come from a Board-authorized provider for the carrier to pay.
- File Form C-3 with the Workers' Compensation Board (WCL § 28). This is the employee's claim form. You have two years from the date of injury (or from when you knew or should have known an occupational illness was work-related).
- Keep copies of everything. Pay stubs, the incident report, doctor's notes, mileage to medical appointments, and any letters from the carrier.
Late notice doesn't always kill a claim, but it gives the carrier a defense. There are exceptions — if the employer had actual knowledge, if you were physically or mentally unable to give notice, or if the employer wasn't prejudiced by the delay. Don't assume the case is dead. Get an opinion.
03What benefits actually pay.
New York workers' compensation provides four broad categories of benefits. Understanding which apply to your situation is the first step in understanding what your case is worth.
Medical Benefits
All causally-related medical treatment, prescriptions, surgery, physical therapy, and travel mileage. No co-pays, no deductibles. The catch: treatment generally has to follow the New York Medical Treatment Guidelines, and prior authorization is required for certain procedures.
Lost-Wage (Indemnity) Benefits
Two-thirds of your average weekly wage, multiplied by your degree of disability, capped at the statutory maximum. Paid every two weeks while you're out of work or working at reduced earnings. There is a 7-day waiting period — you don't get paid for the first week unless you're out more than 14 days.
Schedule Loss of Use (SLU)
For permanent injuries to extremities, eyes, or hearing — fingers, hands, arms, toes, feet, legs, eye, ear — the law assigns a number of weeks of benefits based on the percentage of permanent loss. SLU is paid as a lump sum (minus credits for indemnity already received). For non-extremity injuries like the back, neck, or head, "non-schedule" rules apply, with caps tied to your loss of wage-earning capacity.
Death Benefits
If a worker dies from a work-related injury or illness, surviving spouses, dependent children, and dependent parents may receive ongoing benefits, plus funeral and memorial expenses.
04The most important number: your AWW.
Almost every weekly check, every settlement, and every SLU award is calculated off your average weekly wage. AWW disputes are where the biggest dollars live in workers' compensation, and where representation most often pays for itself.
The basic rule: AWW is computed from the 52 weeks before your injury. But the formula gets complicated when:
- You worked less than a full year before the injury
- You had concurrent employment (a second job)
- Your wages included overtime, tips, shift differentials, or bonuses
- You were paid partly under the table
- You're a union member with negotiated supplements (welfare fund contributions, annuity, vacation)
Carriers default to the lowest defensible AWW. A correctly calculated AWW — including concurrent earnings, overtime, and union supplements where applicable — frequently raises the weekly check by hundreds of dollars and the eventual SLU or settlement value by tens of thousands.
Average weekly wage is where the biggest dollars live in workers' compensation. The carrier's first AWW number is almost always the lowest defensible number — not the right one.
05Current NY benefit rates.
| Date of Injury | Maximum Weekly Benefit | Minimum Weekly Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2026 – Jun 30, 2027 | $1,281.50 | $384.45 |
| Jul 1, 2025 – Jun 30, 2026 | $1,222.42 | $325.00 |
| Jul 1, 2024 – Jun 30, 2025 | $1,171.46 | $275.00 |
Your benefit rate is locked in by your date of injury. If you were hurt in 2023, you don't get a raise when the 2026 rates take effect. This is one reason carriers sometimes drag their feet at the start of a claim — every week they delay establishment is a week of leverage.
Run your numbers through the Weekly Rate Calculator — see what your check should be by date of accident, AWW, and disability classification.
Run the Case Evaluator — find out if you have a case in 2 minutes.
06Hearings, judges, and the Board.
Workers' compensation cases are decided by Workers' Compensation Law Judges (WCLJs), not regular trial courts. Hearings are largely virtual now and tend to be short — 10 to 30 minutes — focused on a single issue: whether to establish the case, which body parts are accepted, what the AWW should be, whether benefits are owed for a particular period, or what the IME means.
If a WCLJ rules against you, the next step is a Mandatory Application for Board Review (MAR), and then potentially the Appellate Division, Third Department. Most cases are decided at the WCLJ level — but how a hearing is prepared (which medical reports are filed, which depositions are taken, which forms are submitted in what order) is what shapes the outcome.