Reforms Include Crackdown on Slow Payments to Injured Workers

Workers’ compensation reforms signed into law April 10 take aim at hearing delays that two attorneys on opposite sides say began under Gov. George Pataki's administration. A provision in New York's $153.1 billion omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2018 allows a worker or his attorney to request a hearing if the injured employee cannot work and is not being paid even though the claim is uncontroverted. The State Workers' Compensation Board will be required to hold a hearing within 45 days. “This codifies the right to a hearing by any party,” sai...