BILL NUMBER: S5362
SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to permitting
payments 14 days after the due date
 
PURPOSE:
Permits employers or insurance carriers to pay installments of compen-
sation within fourteen days after the due date, instead of the current
twenty-five days.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 25 of the
workers' compensation law, by changing the number of days after a due
date for payment from twenty-five to fourteen.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York's workers' compensation law allows employers and insurers to
make a payment, without penalty, up to twenty-five days after a due
date. This creates situations where injured workers counting on timely
payments may not receive payment until twenty-five days later. Before
electronic payments, a twenty-five day timeframe allowed for checks that
may have been delayed in the mail to be delivered.
However, with the advent of electronic payments, such a lengthy window
is no longer necessary. Pushing the permitted payment window up to four-
teen days still gives employers and insurers a window to make a timely
payment without penalty, while giving injured workers a little more
predictability on when they will receive a payment.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: S5866
2021-22: S.3948
2019-20: 5.2710 Referred to Labor,
A.8466 Referred to Labor
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately