COVID-19 Legal Update: New York

Workers' Compensation Administrative board/ commission

How does the state define an occupational disease?

§2 (7) "Injury" and "personal injury" mean only accidental injuries arising out of and in the course of employment and such disease or infection as may naturally and unavoidably result therefrom. The terms "injury" and "personal injury" shall not include an injury which is solely mental and is based on work related stress if such mental injury is a direct consequence of a lawful personnel decision involving a disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, demotion, or termination taken in good faith by the employer. Article 3. § 37- § 48 A disease arising from employment conditions for a class of workers, with the disease occurring as a natural incident for particular occupations, distinct from and exceeding the ordinary hazards and risks of employment. To be considered an occupational disease, there must be some recognizable link between the disease and some distinctive feature of the worker's job. Disabling non-accidental injuries and illnesses arising from conditions of employment, including occupational hearing loss and 30 diseases listed under Section 3(2) of the Workers' Compensation Law. A distinguishing characteristic of occupational diseases is the lack of a clear date of accident -- so special rules are needed in OD cases to establish a date of disablement, "timely notice" requirements, etc. Minimal conditions that must be met before financial responsibility can be assigned to a claim for workers' compensation based on occupational disease. Specifically, it must be established that (a) the claimant has an occupational disease recognized by the Workers' Compensation Law; (b) the claimant has, after the onset of the disease, notified her/his employer within the time limit set by the Workers' Compensation Law for occupational diseases (two years from date of disablement or from date when claimant knew or should have known that the disease was due to the nature of the employment, whichever is greater); and (c) a causal relationship exists between work-related activities and exposure, the development of the occupational disease, and a subsequent disability. Occupational Illness: (DOL) - Any abnormal condition or disorder, other than one resulting from an occupational injury, caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment, including acute and chronic illnesses or diseases which may be caused by inhalation, absorption, ingestion or direct contact.