Employers in New York pay anywhere from pennies to roughly $30 per $100 of payroll for workers' comp insurance. The rate depends on how dangerous the work is.
The worker pays nothing, and that point matters. Plenty of injured workers hesitate to file because they believe a claim costs the boss out of pocket, or that coverage is some kind of favor. It is neither. It is the law, and it is part of what your labor already earned.
If you got hurt on the job, the price of the policy should play no role in your decision to file. Below is what the insurance costs, who carries that cost, and why none of it should stop you from protecting your claim.
Who actually pays for workers' comp insurance?
The employer pays every dollar. New York requires nearly every for-profit employer to carry workers' compensation coverage for its employees. WCL § 31 makes it illegal to shift that cost onto workers. There are no premium deductions from your paycheck, and no wage cuts to fund the policy.
A workers' comp deduction on a pay stub is a red flag. It is a violation, and it is worth a call to a lawyer.
How much does the employer pay?
Rates are set per $100 of payroll by job classification. A low-risk office job can run under a dollar per $100. High-risk trades like construction, ironwork, and demolition can run $25 to $30 per $100. The New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board publishes new loss costs each year, usually effective around October 1.
So yes, employers pay real money for this coverage, especially in the trades. That cost is the price of doing business in New York. It is built into every bid and every contract. It is not a debt you repay by staying quiet about an injury.
What happens if an employer skips coverage?
Penalties run high. Under WCL § 52, an uninsured employer can be fined up to $2,000 for every 10-day period each employee goes without coverage. First penalty notices commonly top $12,000. Criminal charges are possible on top of that.
An uninsured boss does not leave you stranded. New York runs the Uninsured Employers Fund to pay benefits when no policy exists. Your claim survives even when your employer broke the law.
Does filing a claim cost me anything?
No. Medical care for the work injury comes with no copays and no deductibles. Miss more than seven days of work and wage benefits kick in. Those run two-thirds of your average weekly wage, adjusted for your degree of disability, up to the state maximum. How that check gets calculated, and how long it takes, is covered in this guide to your first comp check.
Some workers run a job injury through their own health insurance to keep it off the comp record. That usually costs you money the comp system would have paid. It also weakens the paper trail you may need if the injury does not heal right.
Will filing hurt my job or raise my boss's rates?
A claim can affect an employer's experience rating over time. That is the employer's business cost, not yours. The law draws a hard line here: WCL § 120 prohibits firing or discriminating against a worker for filing a comp claim.
The real pressure is rarely legal. It is the foreman, the crew, the next call from the hall. But comp is no-fault insurance your employer already bought. Filing is not suing your boss. Comp exists precisely because you generally cannot sue your employer. For many injured workers, the case that truly makes them whole is a third-party claim against an owner or general contractor. That is a separate question, explained in when you can sue beyond workers' comp.
What about my pension, annuity, and credits?
For union members, the paycheck is only part of the loss. Pension accrual, annuity contributions, and family medical all ride on your hours. A comp check replaces a share of wages. It does not replace pension credits, and it does not account for a career cut short.
An injury that pushes you out of the trade needs more than a comp file. A properly built third-party case values the lifetime loss, including the benefits package your local negotiated, not just a wage stub. And if the carrier later sends you to an insurance-company exam to trim your benefits, read what that IME is and is not before you walk in.
For the spouse reading this
Maybe your husband or wife is icing a shoulder every night and refusing to call anyone. You can still move things forward. Write down the date, the place, and how the injury happened. Keep copies of any medical visits. Know the two clocks: notice to the employer within 30 days of the injury, and a C-3 claim form filed with the Workers' Compensation Board within two years.
Talking to a lawyer commits no one to anything. It simply tells you where the family stands before the deadlines decide for you.
How Schwartzapfel Holbrook approaches work-injury cases
Schwartzapfel Holbrook represents injured workers across New York City, Nassau County, and Suffolk County in workers' compensation and third-party construction cases. The firm is selective about the cases it takes. When it accepts a case, it builds the comp claim and any third-party claim together. The full lifetime picture, wages, pension, annuity, and medical, goes into the valuation from the start. Every case is prepared as if it will be tried, because that preparation is what carriers respond to.
