Top 5 Things You Should Know About Hearings at the NY Workers Compensation Board

When your employee has a comp claim they will be required to attend hearings. They will often become extremely frustrated by these. Here are the basics of understanding the system and lowering anger and frustration in your work force. 1-New York annually has 200,000 hearings in its work comp system for 150,000 claims filed annually. It has 56 judges who must handle these hearings. The hearings, therefore, are necessarily very short. 2-Workers imagine that the judge will be happy to listen to their complaints and take appropriate action. In fact, the regulars at the hearing speak in an abbreviated code unintelligible to outsiders. When the hearing ends the worker hardly understands what has been said and is rarely asked to participate. 3-If your worker has an attorney, the attorney will likely be with the next worker awaiting a hearing and will have little time to talk to your worker. 4-Your workers will spend half a day travelling and waiting for a proceeding that usually lasts only 15 minutes. 5-Payments for lost time, in work comp, do not count days lost from work to attend hearings. Therefore, do everything to lessen the number of hearings that your workers have to attend. Always ask the worker before and after a hearing if there is anything you can do. Make sure the carrier has total wages for the year prior to the accident before the first hearing. Pay small bills (travel expenses, etc.) for the employee. Communicate with the carrier. Ask to speak to the lawyer they select to handle the hearing. Attend hearings by phone. Ask the carrier to call you during the hearing to resolve questions. (This is a new Board procedure designed to make it easier for doctors but it can also be used by employers.) Attorney Theodore Roncais a practicing lawyer from Aquebogue, NY. He is a frequent writer and speaker, and has represented employers in the areas of workers’ compensation, Social Security disability, employee disability plans and subrogation for over 30 years. Attorney Ronca can be reached at 631-722-2100. WC Cost Calculator www.ReduceYourWorkersComp.com/calculator.php REAL COST of work comp. WC 101 www.ReduceYourWorkersComp.com/workers_comp.php for the basics about workers comp. Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different. Consult with your corporate legal counsel before implementing any cost containment programs. ©2008 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact I[email protected]