What's happening
This bill requires workers' compensation payments to be made within 14 days of the due date instead of 25 days.
Why it matters
Faster access to benefits for injured workers. By reducing the allowable payment window from 25 to 14 days, the bill ensures that workers who are injured on the job receive compensation more quickly, which can be crucial for covering immediate medical or living expenses.
Increased accountability for employers and insurers. The shorter deadline, combined with penalties for late payments (a 20% additional amount plus a $300 assessment), creates a stronger incentive for employers and insurance carriers to process claims promptly, potentially reducing bureaucratic delays.
Potential reduction in financial stress and hardship. Speedier payments could help minimize the financial instability that injured workers and their families may face while waiting for compensation, especially for those who rely on these payments as their primary source of income during recovery.
Stricter enforcement with exceptions. While the bill tightens the timeline, it still allows for exceptions if the employer or insurer can show that delays were due to circumstances beyond their control, balancing timeliness with fairness in extraordinary situations.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Faster Workers’ Comp Payments
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to labor
- Referred to labor
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Cut Late Payment Window
In Assembly Committee · Labor · Sponsor Karines Reyes
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2710
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 29, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to permitting payments 14 days after the due date
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 25 of the workers' compensation law, as amended by chapter 635 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
(e) If the employer or insurance carrier shall fail to pay any installments of compensation within [twenty-five] fourteen days after the same become due, there shall be paid by the employer or, if insured, its insurance carrier, an additional amount of twenty percent of the compensation then due which shall accrue for the benefit of the injured worker or his or her dependents and shall be paid to him or her or them with the compensation, unless such delay or default is excused by the board upon the application of the employer or insurance carrier upon the ground that owing to conditions over which the employer or insurance carrier had no control, such payment could not be made. The employer in each such instance shall also be assessed the sum of three hundred dollars, which shall be paid to the claimant.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03993-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to permitting payments 14 days after the due date
Purpose
Permits employers or insurance carriers to pay installments of compen- sation within fourteen days after the due date, instead of the current twenty-five days.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 25 of the workers' compensation law, by changing the number of days after a due date for payment from twenty-five to fourteen.
Justification
New York's workers' compensation law allows employers and insurers to make a payment, without penalty, up to twenty-five days after a due date. This creates situations where injured workers counting on timely payments may not receive payment until twenty-five days later. Before electronic payments, a twenty-five day timeframe allowed for checks that may have been delayed in the mail to be delivered.
However, with the advent of electronic payments, such a lengthy window is no longer necessary. Pushing the permitted payment window up to four- teen days still gives employers and insurers a window to make a timely payment without penalty, while giving injured workers a little more predictability on when they will receive a payment.
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
Immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.