New York Workers' Compensation Blog For Small Business Owners

Workers' compensation insurance premiums depend on employee classifications and payroll.

In the past, this fact led many New York small business owners to classify employees falsely as independent contractors. It was a tactic to avoid high premiums and save money. Or make no insurance payments at all.

Do You Have Reason to Believe a Claimant is Defrauding the Workers' Compensation System in Order to Secure or Maintain Benefits?

In New York, the statute governing workers' compensation fraud committed by claimants is found at N.Y. W.C.L. § 114-a(1). Added to the law in 1996, the statute provides that a claimant will be disqualified from receiving future compensation if such person provides a false statement or misrepresentation of truth as to a material fact for the purposes of obtaining wage replacement benefits.

One of the more contentious arguments held at workers' compensation hearings involves the calculation and establishment of a claimant's average weekly wage (AWW). Establishing a high AWW will result in increased weekly indemnity benefits. On the other hand, setting the AWW at a lower rate will decrease indemnity exposure. What is clear is that a claimant's AWW is governed by Section 14 of the N.Y. Workers' Compensation Law. However, what is not always clear is how to properly calculate the AWW of a seasonal worker.