NY State Senate Bill 2023-S7097

Senate Bill S7097

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Requires employers to provide notice of insurance requirements for injured employees to such employees in their native language

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to labor
May 18, 2023	referred to labor

2023-S7097 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Labor
Law Section:: Workers' Compensation Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §51, Work Comp L

2023-S7097 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires employers to provide notice of insurance requirements for injured employees to such employees in their native language; requires employers to provide notice of how to file a claim to injured workers; establishes a penalty for failure to comply with such notice requirements.

2023-S7097 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7097

SPONSOR: RAMOS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to notice of
insurance requirements for injured employees

 
PURPOSE:

This bill requires employers to provide workers compensation information
for injured employees in their native language; provides protections
against retaliation.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Amends the workers' compensation law to include a provision
that ensures when a workplace injury is reported, the employer must
provide the employee with the employee's rights under this chapter, in
the employee's native language. Failure to provide employees with
mandated information within seven days will result in a one thousand
dollar fine and an additional one thousand dollars for every additional

seven days. All funds shall be directed to the state Occupational Safety
and Hazard Abaetement Board.

Section 2. Amends workers' compensation law to expand section 120,
banning any retaliation against employees for utilization of rights
under this article

Section 2. Sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

There is currently no requirement for employers to provide their employ-
ees with information on how to file a workers' compensation claim in the
event they are injured on the job. As a result, many employees who are
injured while working are unaware of the procedure for filing workers'
compensation claims which would allow them to collect lost wage indem-
nity benefits while they are out of work and pay for their medical
bills. In cases of serious injury, the failure to obtain workers'
compensation can result in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt that
would otherwise have been paid for at a time when the employee is
particularly ill-equipped to take on any financial burden. This bill
would amend § 51 of the Workers' Compensation Law to provide that any
time an employer is required to notify the Workers' Compensation Board
of a workplace injury to an employee, the employer must present the
employee with a statement of rights detailing the procedure for filing a
claim within seven (7) days of the injury. As a deterrent measure, the
amendment also provides for financial and other penalties, including
paid compensatory and vacation leave for the employee in the event of
noncompliance.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPACT TO THE STATE:

None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2023-S7097 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7097
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 18, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RAMOS  -- 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 notice  of
   insurance requirements for injured employees
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 51 of the workers' compensation law, as amended  by
 chapter 105 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   §  51. Posting of notice regarding compensation. 1. Every employer who
 has complied with section fifty of this article shall post and  maintain
 in a conspicuous place or places in and about his OR HER place or places
 of  business  typewritten  or printed in English [and], Spanish, AND ANY
 OTHER NATIVE LANGUAGE OF EMPLOYEES notices in  form  prescribed  by  the
 chairman,  stating  the  fact  that  he OR SHE has complied with all the
 rules and regulations of the chairman and the board and that he  OR  SHE
 has  secured  the  payment  of  compensation to his OR HER employees and
 their dependents in accordance with the provisions of this chapter,  but
 failure  to  post  such  notice  as herein provided shall not in any way
 affect the exclusiveness of the remedy provided for by section eleven of
 this chapter. Every employer who owns or operates automotive  or  horse-
 drawn vehicles and has no minimum staff of regular employees required to
 report  for  work at an established place of business maintained by such
 employer and every employer who is engaged in  the  business  of  moving
 household  goods  or furniture shall post such notices in each and every
 vehicle owned or operated by him OR HER. Failure  to  post  or  maintain
 such  notice  in  any  of  said  vehicles  shall  constitute presumptive
 evidence that such employer has failed to secure the payment of  compen-
 sation.  The  chairman  may  require  any  employer to furnish a written
 statement at any time showing the stock corporation, mutual  corporation
 or reciprocal insurer in which such employer is insured or the manner in
 which  such  employer  has  complied with any provision of this chapter.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10993-01-3

 S. 7097                             2
 
 Failure for a period of ten days to furnish such written statement shall
 constitute presumptive evidence that  such  employer  has  neglected  or
 failed  in  respect  of any of the matters so required. Any employer who
 fails to comply with the provisions of this section shall be required to
 pay  to  the board a fine of five hundred dollars for each violation, in
 addition to any other penalties imposed by law to be deposited into  the
 uninsured employers' fund.
   2.  WHENEVER  AN EMPLOYER IS REQUIRED UNDER SECTION ONE HUNDRED TEN OF
 THIS CHAPTER TO REPORT THE OCCURRENCE  OF  A  WORKPLACE  INJURY  TO  THE
 BOARD,  THE  EMPLOYER  SHALL ALSO PROVIDE THE EMPLOYEE SO INJURED WITH A
 WRITTEN STATEMENT IN THE EMPLOYEE'S NATIVE LANGUAGE  OF  THE  EMPLOYEE'S
 RIGHTS  UNDER  THIS CHAPTER, INCLUDING AN EXPLANATION OF HOW A CLAIM MAY
 BE FILED WRITTEN IN PLAIN LANGUAGE BY THE BOARD AND  IN  THE  EMPLOYEE'S
 NATIVE LANGUAGE.
   3.  ANY EMPLOYER WHO IS REQUIRED UNDER SECTION ONE HUNDRED TEN OF THIS
 CHAPTER TO REPORT THE OCCURRENCE OF A  WORKPLACE  INJURY  WHO  FAILS  TO
 PROVIDE THE INJURED EMPLOYEE WITH A WRITTEN STATEMENT OF EMPLOYEE RIGHTS
 IN  THE  EMPLOYEE'S  NATIVE LANGUAGE AS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION
 TWO OF THIS SECTION, WITHIN SEVEN DAYS OF THE OCCURRENCE OF SUCH  INJURY
 SHALL FORFEIT TO THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE THE SUM OF ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS
 FOR  EACH  SUCH FAILURE, TO BE RECOVERED BY THE BOARD OR ITS DESIGNEE IN
 ANY LEGAL ACTION NECESSARY, INCLUDING ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION OR  A  CIVIL
 ACTION.  IN  SUCH  EVENT, THE INJURED EMPLOYEE SHALL ALSO BE ENTITLED TO
 COMPENSATORY OR VACATION LEAVE IN THE AMOUNT OF ONE  DAY  OF  LEAVE  FOR
 EACH  DAY THE EMPLOYER FAILS TO TIMELY PROVIDE THE INJURED EMPLOYEE WITH
 A WRITTEN STATEMENT OF RIGHTS UNDER THIS ARTICLE  UP  TO  A  MAXIMUM  OF
 FOURTEEN DAYS' LEAVE. SUCH LEAVE SHALL BE COMPENSATED BY THE EMPLOYER AT
 THE EMPLOYEE'S NORMAL RATE OF PAY WITHOUT PENALTY OR DEDUCTION FOR LEAVE
 STATUS.
   § 2.  This act shall take effect immediately.

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