S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4742
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 6, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. BRONSON, LUNSFORD, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, RAGA, LUCAS,
   HEVESI, SHRESTHA, SANTABARBARA, DAVILA, COLTON, MEEKS -- read once and
   referred to the Committee on Labor
 
 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  amended  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-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06076-02-5
              

 A. 4742                             2
 
 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
 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] THEIR DEPENDENTS.  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 engaging 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.