Decades Of Successful Workers’ Compensation Defense
At Walsh and Hacker, our law firm has offered workers’ compensation defense services to employers and insurance companies throughout the state of New York since 1967.
Our Approach To Advocating For Employers
Our attorneys appear routinely before state and federal courts and agencies. We are familiar with the personnel and procedures at the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) and the Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ).
This is the type of knowledge and experience that can contribute significantly to the successful and timely conclusion of your workers’ compensation case. Contact us to arrange for a confidential consultation with an experienced and knowledgeable workers’ compensation defense lawyer.
We will assign your case to a specific attorney, ensuring accountability and timely communication as you work together to resolve your case. In complicated cases such as workers’ compensation with ADA implications, this kind of personalized attention can be a critical factor.
Defending Against All Workers’ Compensation Claims
We offer workers’ compensation defense for self-insured employers, third-party administrators, municipalities, and insurance companies.
We defend against all workers’ compensation claims, including cases involving:
- The Jones Act, which provides compensation to seamen who are injured in a vessel during the course of their maritime employment
- Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, which involves compensation for employees injured on navigable waters or adjoining areas.
- Section 905(b)
- Americans With Disabilities Act, which can present many difficulties if an employer attempts to bring an injured employee back to work on “light duty” assignments after the employee has been involved in filing a Workers’ Compensation claim.
The Purpose And Effect Of Workers’ Compensation Laws
Workers’ compensation laws are designed to ensure that employees who are injured on the job receive monetary awards without having to litigate their claims against their employers. It is an injured workers’ “exclusive remedy” unless he or she can point to a third party who contributed to the injuries, such as the manufacturer of the machinery that injured him or her.
As an employer, you have a certain level of protection. The amount that the employees can recover is limited, and injured employees are generally prohibited from suing their co-workers, creating a no-fault system where negligence is not an issue. Filing a workers’ compensation claim is similar to filing an insurance claim; it isn’t a lawsuit against an employer, but rather a request for benefits.
New York Workers’ Compensation Law
Each state has enacted its own workers’ compensation laws, making it vitally important to seek the services of a firm whose lawyers are thoroughly conversant with the laws of the state where the claim is filed. Under the law in most states, every business must have some form of workers’ compensation insurance to cover injured employees.
New York’s provisions are as follows:
- Earnings/employment needed in the base period to qualify for unemployment in New York: 1 ½ x HQW; $1,600 in HQ
- Computation of Weekly benefit amount: 1/26 HQW unless HQWW is. $3,575 then, 1/25 HQW
- Minimum weekly benefit amount: $40
- Maximum weekly benefit amount: $405
- No weekly earnings disregarded
- Calculation of number of benefit weeks: uniform duration
- Number of benefit weeks: 26
- Size of payroll (length of employment/wages paid): $300 in any quarter
- Wages subject to taxes: $8,500.
Connect With Us Today
Call us at (518) 463-1269, or contact us online to reach an experienced workers’ compensation defense lawyer.