BILL NUMBER: S6376
SPONSOR: SCARCELLA-SPANTON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to prohibit-
ing insurance carriers and employers from withholding certain benefits
from injured workers based on attachment to the labor market
 
PURPOSE:
To prohibit insurance carriers and employers from withholding certain
benefits from injured workers based on attachment to the labor market.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends paragraph w of subsection 3 of section 15 of the work-
ers' compensation law by removing the need for a claimant who is enti-
tled to benefits to demonstrate ongoing attachment to the labor market.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, insurance carriers and employers can legally withhold indem-
nity, or wage replacement, benefits from injured workers who prove that
they cannot perform their jobs due to their workplace illness or injury.
Carriers can do this by claiming that the injured worker has voluntarily
withdrawn from the labor market by not seeking alternate employment so
that their injury or illness does not preclude them from performing. For
most injured workers, this is an impossibility. If their own employer
is not willing or able to offer them light duty work, the chances that a
different employer will offer them light duty work in an industry or
position that they have little experience or training in are zero.
This defense evolved as a matter of decisional law. Statutory amendments
enacted in 2017 to limit the application of this defense have not been
successful. Further, allowing carriers to assert this defense creates a
windfall for the carriers because employers' experience rating and
premiums are routinely negatively impacted by the claim regardless of
whether indemnity benefits are withheld. For these reasons, it is neces-
sary to eliminate this defense altogether.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.