Hurt at work in New York? Deadlines, weekly benefit and how to file

Tell your employer in writing within 30 days (the date of the accident). File your claim within 2 years.

Lost wage benefits (temporary total disability) can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,281.50 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027).

Your employer's insurer, not the state, usually decides first. If they deny or delay, the free help listed here can explain your options.

In New York, lost wage benefits pay part of your wages while your work injury or illness keeps you out of work. Your employer's workers' compensation insurer pays the claim, and if there is a dispute, a Workers' Compensation Law Judge at the Workers' Compensation Board decides it.

What are my deadlines?How much will I get?Who is my doctor?Claim denied?

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Deadlines are strict. If you are near one, call the state agency or free help today.

Free tools for New York

Free tools that run in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or sent until you download, copy or print a document.

Deadline helper

Worked out in your browser. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent.

If you are not sure of the exact day, use the earliest day you think it could be.

Enter the date of injury

We add the number from the law to your date. Nothing is saved.

Benefit estimate calculator

This estimate uses the rule in New York's data: a share of your average weekly wage, up to the state maximum.

Worked out in your browser. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent.

Gross pay per week, as the insurer would figure it. Include regular overtime and tips if they were part of your pay.

Enter your pay

We apply the rule in the law. Nothing is saved.

Written notice to your employer

A letter that tells your employer, in writing, that you were hurt or made sick by your work.

Where the reply should be sent.

Required when you mail it. Not needed if you hand it in person.

In your own words, in English. Keep it short and factual. Do not guess why it happened.

It goes into the letter as you type it.

Other formats

Claim checklist: what to gather and do

A printable list of papers to keep and steps to take.

What you already have

New York
Other formats

Your checklist

Deadlines in New York

Tell your employer
30 days
File your claim
2 years
Waiting period

Lost wage benefits are not paid for the first 7 days of disability (calendar days).

All the details →

Weekly benefit in New York

What it pays
Two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages
Maximum
$1,281.50 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027)
Minimum
$384.45 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027)
Minimum rule

The minimum is one-fifth of the New York State average weekly wage. If your own weekly wage is that amount or less, you receive your full weekly wage instead.

Law: $384.45 a week for accidents from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027

Applies to
Accidents (or disablement from occupational disease) from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027

Law: N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law §§ 14, 15(2), 15(6)

Source: wcb.ny.gov

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Who is your doctor in New York?

Who chooses
You choose
Network
Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), if your employer's insurer uses one; in the unionized construction industry, an Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) program may require its own providers

You can generally choose any health care provider authorized by the Workers' Compensation Board, including your own doctor if that doctor is Board-authorized. In an emergency you can see any provider. If your employer's insurer uses a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) and told you so in writing, your first treatment must be from a PPO provider.

You may transfer your care to another Board-authorized provider. If you started in a PPO, after 30 days from your first treatment you may choose any authorized provider outside the PPO by telling the insurer in writing (a simple letter is enough); the insurer may require a second opinion from a PPO provider. Insurers may also require you to use their pharmacy or diagnostic-testing network, and they must tell you in writing.

Law: N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 13-a

Source: wcb.ny.gov

Who is covered in New York

Size of employer

Virtually all employers in New York with employees must have workers' compensation coverage. Family members working for a for-profit business count as employees.

Special rules
  • Domestic workers in a private household (nannies, home health aides, housekeepers, babysitters, au pairs and similar): Coverage is required if the domestic worker works 40 or more hours a week for the same employer (time at the home, including sleeping and eating, and errands for the employer count).
  • Farms: Every farm that has employees must have coverage. A farmer's spouse and minor children are not counted as employees unless they have an express contract of hire.
Not covered
  • Sole proprietors, partners and LLC members with no employees (they may cover themselves voluntarily)
  • One- or two-person corporations where those people own all the stock and hold all the offices, with no other workers
  • People doing yard work or occasional chores at a one-family, owner-occupied home (unless the work is regularly scheduled or a minor uses power machinery)
  • Domestic workers who each work less than 40 hours a week for the household and do not live there
  • Athletes in supervised nonprofit amateur athletics
  • Federal employees, longshore workers, railroad workers and seamen are covered by federal programs, sometimes in addition to state law
Contractors

Most people who work for a for-profit business under its supervision, direction and control are employees, on or off the premises. In construction, a worker is presumed to be the contractor's employee unless the contractor proves that the worker meets the strict independent-contractor test in the Construction Industry Fair Play Act.

Immigrant workers

Citizenship and immigration status are not factors in workers' compensation.

If your employer has no insurance

If your employer did not have workers' compensation insurance, you can still file a claim with the Board. If the Board makes an award and the uninsured employer does not pay it, the award is paid from the state's Uninsured Employers Fund, and the employer (and, for a corporation, its president, secretary and treasurer) must repay it.

Source: Form C-3

Check your employer's insurance

Law: N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law §§ 2, 3, 26-a, 50, 51

Source: wcb.ny.gov

If your claim is denied or delayed in New York

First step

If the insurer disputes your claim, it must file a notice of controversy with the Board and tell you why. The Board then handles the case and schedules a hearing if needed.

Form
Request for Assistance by Injured Worker (Form RFA-1W)

All the details →

Fired or punished for filing in New York

Your employer may not fire you, refuse to reinstate you, or otherwise discriminate against you because you claimed or tried to claim workers' compensation, asked for a claim form, or testified or are about to testify in a workers' compensation case. Your employer does not have to hold your job open while you cannot work, and may act for a different, legitimate reason.

The law
Workers' Compensation Law § 120
What you may get

The Board can order that you be restored to your job or to the position and privileges you would have had, and that your employer pay you for any lost compensation caused by the discrimination, plus attorney or representative fees set by the Board. The employer can also be fined $100 to $500.

Where to file

File a Discrimination Claim with the Workers' Compensation Board (Disability and Discrimination Unit, PO Box 9029, Endicott, NY 13761-9029).

Source: Form DC-120

Deadline

Within 2 years of when the discrimination happened.

Law: N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 120

Source: wcb.ny.gov

Lawyers' fees and other benefits in New York

You may hire an attorney or licensed representative, but you do not have to. You or your family should not pay them directly: their fees must be approved by the Board and are deducted from your lost wage award.

New York workers' compensation also pays medical care (including mileage and travel to treatment), benefits for permanent partial disability (schedule awards for loss of use of a body part, or non-schedule awards), permanent total disability, reduced-earnings benefits if you return to work at lower pay, death benefits to dependents, and vocational rehabilitation help from the Board.

Free help in New York

State agency

New York State Workers' Compensation Board

Phone
1-877-632-4996
Address
Centralized mailing address: PO Box 5205, Binghamton, NY 13902-5205 (Board offices: 328 State Street, Schenectady, NY 12305)
Find an office
Look up your case

Free help

Good to know in New York

  • Except in an emergency, your doctor must be authorized by the Workers' Compensation Board to treat injured workers; from January 1, 2028 any eligible licensed provider in good standing may treat you (WCB, Universal Authorization).
  • If your case is disputed, you may get New York disability benefits while the Board decides; they are deducted later if you win lost wage benefits.
  • The Board does not accept a claimant's electronic signature on Board forms that require your signature; sign in ink (WCB).

Changes in 2024–2026

The minimum weekly benefit rose to $275 (accidents in 2024), then $325 (January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026), and for accidents on or after July 1, 2026 it is one-fifth of the state average weekly wage. The maximum for accidents from July 1, 2026 is $1,281.50. Section 10(3)(c) lets any covered employee claim post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder or major depressive disorder from extraordinary work-related stress tied to a distinct work event. The FY2026-27 state budget enacted 'Universal Authorization', which from January 1, 2028 lets any eligible licensed medical provider in good standing treat injured workers.

Law: $384.45; Workers' Comp. Law § 15(6); was $1,222.42

Questions about workers' comp in New York

How long do I have to tell my employer about a work injury in New York?

Tell your employer in writing as soon as possible, and no later than 30 days after the accident. Say when, where and how you were hurt or became ill.

How long do I have to file a workers' comp claim in New York?

You must file an Employee Claim with the Workers' Compensation Board within 2 years after the accident.

How much does workers' comp pay in New York?

Lost wage benefits (temporary total disability) can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,281.50 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027).

Can I choose my own doctor for a work injury in New York?

You can generally choose any health care provider authorized by the Workers' Compensation Board, including your own doctor if that doctor is Board-authorized.

Can my employer fire me for filing a workers' comp claim in New York?

Your employer may not fire you, refuse to reinstate you, or otherwise discriminate against you because you claimed or tried to claim workers' compensation, asked for a claim form, or testified or are about to testify in a workers' compensation case.

What if my workers' comp claim is denied in New York?

If the insurer disputes your claim, it must file a notice of controversy with the Board and tell you why. The Board then handles the case and schedules a hearing if needed.

Not about a work injury?

Not about a work injury? Unpaid wages → Wage Claim Map · Hurt in a car crash → Accident Claim Map · A medical bill → Medical Bill Map · Unemployment benefits → Unemployment Claim Map · Other problems → robinclaim.com

Nearby states

Sources