S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  8445--A
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 30, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RAMOS  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be  committed  to  the  Committee  on  Labor  --  committee
   discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
   to said committee
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  workers'  compensation  law, in relation to the
   parties' rights to a hearing upon application to the workers'  compen-
   sation board and requiring a record of all hearings held
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3  of  section  20  of  the  workers'
 compensation law are renumbered subdivisions 2, 3 and 4 and a new subdi-
 vision 1 is added to read as follows:
   1. THE BOARD SHALL INDEX A CLAIM FOR WORKERS' COMPENSATION IMMEDIATELY
 UPON THE RECEIPT OF A MEDICAL REPORT IN ADDITION TO EITHER A CLAIM FILED
 BY THE INJURED WORKER OR AN EMPLOYER'S REPORT OF INJURY OR ILLNESS.
   §  2.   Subdivision  2 of section 20 of the workers' compensation law,
 as added by chapter 635 of the laws of 1996 and as renumbered by section
 one of this act, is amended to read as follows:
   2. [At any time after the expiration of the first seven days of  disa-
 bility  on  the  part  of  an injured employee, or at any time after the
 employee's death, a claim for  compensation  may  be  presented  to  the
 employer  or  to  the  chair.  The]  WITHIN SIXTY DAYS AFTER A CLAIM FOR
 COMPENSATION HAS BEEN INDEXED, THE board shall HOLD AN  INITIAL  HEARING
 FOR  EACH  CLAIM  IN WHICH THE INJURED WORKER ASSERTS LOST WAGES OR LOST
 TIME DUE TO INJURY AND SHALL have full power and authority to  determine
 all  questions  in relation to the payment of claims presented to it for
 compensation under the provisions of this chapter. The  chair  or  board
 shall THEREAFTER make or cause to be made such investigation as it deems
 necessary,  and  upon application of either party OR AN ATTORNEY REPRES-
 ENTING EITHER PARTY, shall order a hearing  BEFORE  A  REFEREE  TO  TAKE
 PLACE  WITHIN  FORTY-FIVE  CALENDAR  DAYS OF THE APPLICATION FROM EITHER
 PARTY, and within thirty days after a claim for compensation is  submit-
 ted  under  this  section, or such hearing closed, shall make or deny an
 award, determining such claim for compensation, and file the same in the
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD09993-04-4
 S. 8445--A                          2
 
 office of the chair.  NO APPLICATION FOR A HEARING MADE BY A PARTY OR AN
 ATTORNEY PURSUANT TO THIS  SECTION  SHALL  BE  SUBJECT  TO  LIMITATIONS,
 PREREQUISITES, OR PENALTIES IMPOSED BY THE BOARD. Immediately after such
 filing the chair shall send to the parties a copy of the decision.  Upon
 a hearing pursuant to this section either party may present evidence and
 be  represented by counsel.  The decision of the board shall be final as
 to all questions of fact, and, except as  provided  in  section  twenty-
 three  of  this article, as to all questions of law.  Except as provided
 in section twenty-seven of this article, all awards of the  board  shall
 draw  simple  interest  from thirty days after the making thereof at the
 rate provided in section five thousand four of the  civil  practice  law
 and  rules.  Whenever a hearing or proceeding for the determination of a
 claim for compensation is  begun  before  a  referee,  pursuant  to  the
 provisions  of this chapter, such hearing or proceeding or any adjourned
 hearing thereon shall continue before the same  referee  until  a  final
 determination  awarding  or denying compensation, except in the absence,
 inability or disqualification to act of such referee, or for other  good
 cause, in which event such hearing or proceeding may be continued before
 another referee by order of the chair or board.
   §  3.  Paragraph  (c)  of  subdivision 3 of section 25 of the workers'
 compensation law, as amended by chapter 61  of  the  laws  of  1986,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   (c) The board shall keep an accurate record of all hearings held.  ALL
 DECISIONS  SHALL  BE  ISSUED TO THE INJURED   WORKER   IN  THEIR  NATIVE
 LANGUAGE. Whenever a hearing must be continued or adjourned because  the
 carrier  or employer has engaged in dilatory tactics or exhibited unjus-
 tified lack of preparedness, the board shall impose a penalty  of  twen-
 ty-five  dollars  to  be  paid to the fund created by subdivision two of
 section one hundred fifty-one of this chapter and shall in addition make
 an award of seventy-five dollars payable to the injured worker or his or
 her dependants. Dilatory tactics may include but shall  not  be  limited
 to:  failing to subpoena medical witnesses or to secure an order to show
 cause as directed by the referee, failing to bring proper files, failing
 to  appear,  failing  to  produce witnesses or documents after they have
 been requested by the referee or examiner or as directed by the  hearing
 notice,  unnecessarily protracting the production of evidence, or engag-
 ing in a pattern of delay which unduly delays resolution, except that no
 penalty shall be imposed nor award made under this  subdivision  if  the
 carrier  or  employer produces evidence sufficient to excuse its conduct
 to the satisfaction of the referee.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.