NY State Senate Bill 2025-S4047

Senate Bill S4047

2025-2026 Legislative Session

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

download bill text pdf

Current 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

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 31, 2025	referred to labor

2025-S4047 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Labor
Law Section:: Workers' Compensation Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §51, Work Comp L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S7097

2025-S4047 (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.

2025-S4047 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4047

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 PROVISIONS:

Section 51 of the workers' compensation law is amended to read as
follows:

1. Posting of notice regarding compensation to be in the employees
native language

2. 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.

3. 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 failure to report. All funds shall
be directed to the state Occupational Safety and Hazard Abatement Board.

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:

2023-24: S7097 (Ramos) - Referred to Labor

 
FISCAL IMPACT:
TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately

2025-S4047 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4047
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 31, 2025
                                ___________
 
 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] THEIR place or plac-
 es of business typewritten or printed in English [and], Spanish, AND ANY
 OTHER  NATIVE  LANGUAGE  OF  EMPLOYEES notices in form prescribed by the
 [chairman] CHAIR, stating the fact that [he has] THEY HAVE complied with
 all the rules and regulations of the [chairman] CHAIR and the board  and
 that  [he  has]  THEY  HAVE secured the payment of compensation to [his]
 THEIR 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  busi-
 ness  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] THEM. Fail-
 ure  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  compensation.  The  [chairman]  CHAIR  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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08524-01-5

 S. 4047                             2
 
 with  any provision of this chapter. 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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