S 4047: Requires employers to provide notice of insurance requirements for injured employees to such employees in their native language; requires employers to provide notice of how to file a claim to injured workers; establishes a penalty for failure to comply with such notice requirements.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4047 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 31, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to notice of insurance requirements for injured employees The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 51 of the workers' compensation law, as amended by 2 chapter 105 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 51. Posting of notice regarding compensation. 1. Every employer who 4 has complied with section fifty of this article shall post and maintain 5 in a conspicuous place or places in and about [his] their place or plac- 6 es of business typewritten or printed in English [and], Spanish, and any 7 other native language of employees notices in form prescribed by the 8 [chairman] chair, stating the fact that [he has] they have complied with 9 all the rules and regulations of the [chairman] chair and the board and 10 that [he has] they have secured the payment of compensation to [his] 11 their employees and their dependents in accordance with the provisions 12 of this chapter, but failure to post such notice as herein provided 13 shall not in any way affect the exclusiveness of the remedy provided for 14 by section eleven of this chapter. Every employer who owns or operates 15 automotive or horse-drawn vehicles and has no minimum staff of regular 16 employees required to report for work at an established place of busi- 17 ness maintained by such employer and every employer who is engaged in 18 the business of moving household goods or furniture shall post such 19 notices in each and every vehicle owned or operated by [him] them. Fail- 20 ure to post or maintain such notice in any of said vehicles shall 21 constitute presumptive evidence that such employer has failed to secure 22 the payment of compensation. The [chairman] chair may require any 23 employer to furnish a written statement at any time showing the stock 24 corporation, mutual corporation or reciprocal insurer in which such 25 employer is insured or the manner in which such employer has complied EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08524-01-5 
 S. 4047 2 1 with any provision of this chapter. Failure for a period of ten days to 2 furnish such written statement shall constitute presumptive evidence 3 that such employer has neglected or failed in respect of any of the 4 matters so required. Any employer who fails to comply with the 5 provisions of this section shall be required to pay to the board a fine 6 of five hundred dollars for each violation, in addition to any other 7 penalties imposed by law to be deposited into the uninsured employers' 8 fund. 9 2. Whenever an employer is required under section one hundred ten of 10 this chapter to report the occurrence of a workplace injury to the 11 board, the employer shall also provide the employee so injured with a 12 written statement in the employee's native language of the employee's 13 rights under this chapter, including an explanation of how a claim may 14 be filed written in plain language by the board and in the employee's 15 native language. 16 3. Any employer who is required under section one hundred ten of this 17 chapter to report the occurrence of a workplace injury who fails to 18 provide the injured employee with a written statement of employee rights 19 in the employee's native language as required pursuant to subdivision 20 two of this section, within seven days of the occurrence of such injury 21 shall forfeit to the people of the state the sum of one thousand dollars 22 for each such failure, to be recovered by the board or its designee in 23 any legal action necessary, including administrative action or a civil 24 action. In such event, the injured employee shall also be entitled to 25 compensatory or vacation leave in the amount of one day of leave for 26 each day the employer fails to timely provide the injured employee with 27 a written statement of rights under this article up to a maximum of 28 fourteen days' leave. Such leave shall be compensated by the employer at 29 the employee's normal rate of pay without penalty or deduction for leave 30 status. 31 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.