Learn about the several kinds of workers’ compensation benefits available in New York, how they are calculated, and how workers’ comp eligibility criteria apply if you were diagnosed with COVID-19 on the job.
The New York workers’ compensation system is intended to assist you in recovering from a job-related accident or illness by providing medical treatment, compensating you for part of your lost wages, and assisting you in returning to work. This page discusses the several forms of workers’ compensation payments available in the state, as well as how they are calculated. (To get these benefits, you must disclose your injuries to your employer as soon as possible and submit a workers’ compensation claim.)
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Can You Get COVID-19 Workers’ Comp Benefits in New York?
COVID-19 may be covered by workers’ compensation as an occupational illness if you can demonstrate that you were exposed to the coronavirus due to the nature of your employment. According to the New York Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), if the danger of exposure is “substantially greater” in your employer, you are more likely to get compensation. The most obvious examples of employees at higher risk are healthcare workers and first responders, but the WCB also noted that workers in other occupations, such as transportation and food service, interact closely with the public in places where there has been documented exposure to the coronavirus.
Even if you did not satisfy the criterion for an occupational illness, you may be eligible for COVID-19 workers’ compensation payments if you can demonstrate a specific exposure event, such as a contact with a sick colleague or an epidemic at your job. In the past, New York courts considered infectious diseases as unintentional injuries in restricted instances, such as when a correctional officer caught tuberculosis after frequent contact with a TB-infected prisoner, or when a teacher contracted mumps after a school-wide outbreak of the illness. Middleton v. Coxsacki, 341 N.E.2d 527 (N.Y. 1975); McDonough v. Whitney Point Cent. School, 15 A.D.2d 191 (N.Y. App. Div. 1961) However, it is unclear how such situations would apply in the setting of a pandemic, when the illness is pervasive across the population.
Medical Coverage for Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ compensation covers any reasonable and necessary medical treatment resulting from a workplace accident, as long as the health care practitioner is allowed. (Find out how to seek medical care via workers’ compensation.)
You may also be eligible for mileage reimbursement for travel to and from doctor’s visits when appropriate.
New York Temporary Disability Benefits
If you require more than seven days off work to recuperate from a job-related injury, you may be eligible for financial benefits to replace some of your lost income. Unless you are out of work for more than 14 days, you will not be eligible for these payments for the first seven days.
The amount of temporary disability payments you get is determined by your average weekly wages in the year before your accident, as well as the severity of your temporary impairment. Your treating doctor will give you a percentage of impairment ranging from 0% to 100%.
Temporary Total Disability
If your doctor certifies that you are temporarily 100% handicapped, your temporary disability payments will be two-thirds of your typical weekly salary, up to a maximum amount. The legal limit is determined by the date of your injury. The maximum weekly benefit is $966.78 for injuries sustained between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. (The New York Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) maintains an updated list of maximums on its website for additional injury dates.)
Temporary Disability in Part
If you are unable to return to your full pre-injury employment (and the associated pay), but can accomplish some degree of work while healing from your injury, you will be eligible to partial temporary disability benefits. These benefits will cover two-thirds of the gap between your average weekly pay and your existing earning capability (up to the same cap mentioned above).
Your earning capability is often judged in this context by what you actually make. For example, if your average weekly earnings is $900 and you work a part-time job that pays $300, you may get two-thirds of the difference ($600), or $400 each week.
If you aren’t working at all, for example, because your employer hasn’t provided you a light-duty job that suits your partial impairment, the WCB may assign you a level of earning capacity that is appropriate under the circumstances (but no more than 75% of your pre-injury income).
Benefits for Permanent Total Disability
Once your medical condition has stabilized to the point where additional treatment will not improve it (a stage known as “maximum medical improvement”), your doctor will examine you to determine whether your injury has left you with permanent limits. If the doctor certifies that you are completely handicapped, you will be paid two-thirds of your typical weekly pay for the duration of your disability.
In general, permanent complete disability implies that you are unable to work due to your limits; however, wounded individuals with specific sorts of impairments (such as the loss of both eyes, legs, or limbs) may be allowed to work for a limited length of time without losing their disability payments.
Benefits for Permanent Partial Disability
Depending on the areas of the body damaged, New York has three alternative methods of granting payments for permanent partial disability.
Awards for Scheduled Loss of Use
A schedule is included in New York legislation to assess permanent partial disability payments for injured workers who have lost the capacity to utilize particular sections of their body (eyes, ears, and parts of the upper and lower limbs). If you have permanently lost some use of one of these bodily parts, you will be paid two-thirds of your average weekly pay (up to the legal limit) for the number of weeks specified in the schedule, multiplied by the percentage of your lost use. The timetable, for example, indicates a complete loss of use of a hand at 244 weeks. If you just lost 50% of your usage, you would get paid for 122 weeks.
Instead of weekly instalments, you may request a single sum payment. Your reward is reduced by the amount of cash benefits you have previously received.
Awards that are not scheduled
You may be eligible for permanent partial disability compensation if you have a permanent handicap to your spine, head, organs, or any portion of your body that is not specified on the schedule. The compensation will be calculated by dividing the gap between your pre-injury average weekly earnings and your present earning capability by two-thirds (as determined based on your specific disability and state guidelines). According to New York law, the maximum number of weeks you may receive these benefits is determined by the proportion of your lost earning potential. For example, if you’ve lost 91% of your earning capacity, you’ll get benefits for no more than 500 weeks, whereas a 15% loss of earning capacity will result in benefits for no more than 225 weeks.
Disfigurement
If your injury has left you with a permanent, serious disfigurement to your face, head, or neck, or if a workers’ compensation judge has determined that disfigurement to certain other parts of your body could harm your earning capacity, you may be eligible for an additional award of up to $20,000 in damages.
Additional Advantages
Additional benefits provided by New York workers’ compensation include:
Rehabilitation for the workforce. If your injury prevents you from returning to your previous career, you may be eligible for a vocational rehabilitation program or job placement assistance.
Benefits upon death. In New York, if an employee dies as a consequence of a work-related accident, the surviving spouse, children, or other dependents may be entitled to death benefits based on a calculation depending on the number of surviving children. Workers’ compensation will also cover appropriate burial costs for the dead employee, according to a county-determined amount.
Workers’ Compensation Benefit Restrictions
You can see by now that workers’ compensation will not compensate you for all of your losses. This may seem to be unjust, but it is part of the workers’ compensation trade-off: You may collect benefits fast without having to show that your employer caused the injury. At the same time, you are often not permitted to sue your employer in order to recover the entire worth of your lost wages, as well as damages such as pain and suffering.
However, there are several instances in which you may be able to litigate for a workplace injury outside of the workers’ compensation system. If you suspect your case may qualify for one of these exceptions, or if you are having difficulty obtaining workers’ compensation payments, consult with a workers’ compensation lawyer. An competent attorney in this field can explain how the law relates to your circumstances and ensure you get the recompense you deserve.