S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2234
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 16, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  RAMOS, JACKSON -- 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  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-
 ted  under  this  section, or such hearing closed, shall make or deny an
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06076-02-5
              

 S. 2234                             2
 
 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.