Workers' Compensation
(On-the-Job Injury or Illness)

A Message Regarding Workers' Compensation

This is a general and simplified presentation of Workers' Compensation provisions and procedures. It is not a substitute for the law or legal advice. The Workers' Compensation Board does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability or sexual preference in employment or the provision of services.

The New York Workers' Compensation Law was enacted in 1914 to ensure that workers who suffered injuries or illnesses on the job received timely medical treatment and wage replacement assistance.

Through the years this fundamental protection had been weakened by an increasingly unresponsive bureaucracy -- a bureaucracy that was no longer meeting the needs of its primary customers -- injured workers and their employers.

In 1996, the New York Employment, Safety and Security Act was enacted. The fundamental reforms of this legislation returned balance and efficiency to the process, promoted greater safety in the workplace, created new health care choices and arrangements and ensured the fiscal integrity of the system.

Today, New Yorkers are beginning to see the Workers' Compensation Board in a whole new light as the speed, quality and consistency of Board decisions improves. Our commitment to restoring confidence in compensation can be readily seen through the new investments in the Board's operations.