What Happens When Employers Do Not Have Workers’ Comp Insurance?

New York State is very strict with regards to employers and their obligations to maintain New York State Workers’ Compensation coverage for their employees. All employers must maintain New York State Workers’ Compensation coverage for their employees. Even if someone is employed for one day, the employer must be sure to have valid New York State Workers’ Compensation coverage for that day.

There are severe penalties for failing to have valid New York State Workers’ Compensation insurance. To be concise, upon a finding of a compensable claim against an uninsured employer, the employer is required to pay benefits for all lost time plus all medical bills related to the injury. In addition to these costs, a finding against an uninsured employer will generate additional penalties and assessments under WCL §26-a and WCL §52(5), which include a penalty of $2,000 for every 10 days of noncompliance or a sum not in excess of two times the cost of compensation for its payroll for the period of such failure to secure compensation insurance.

Any award made against an uninsured employer that is not paid in full within ten days will also result in a Supreme Court judgment being filed against the employer (including individual corporate officers), which may lead to seizure of assets of the employer. It is important to note a corporate officer is personally liable for these penalties. Bankruptcy does not protect the individual corporate officers.

Under Section 52(1) of the WCL, not securing required workers compensation insurance is a crime – punishable by a fine of not less than $1000 nor more than $5,000 or imprisonment for up to one year. The criminal penalties under this statute are in addition to the civil liabilities and penalties noted above.

The State of New York requires strict compliance with regards to maintaining New York State Workers’ Compensation coverage. A claim need not be filed by an injured worker for the State of New York to pursue penalties against an employer for not maintaining New York State Workers’ Compensation coverage.

Scott D. Frendel, is one of the few attorneys throughout the State of New York who specialized in representing the uninsured employer and successfully dealing with the penalties assessed for not maintaining proper New York State Workers’ Compensation coverage.

His father, a former judge, used to head up the agency that pursues the penalties against an uninsured employer. Having intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the New York State Uninsured Employers’ Fund, allows Mr. Frendel to navigate claims on behalf of uninsured employers to successful conclusions. Not only has he been successful in defending workers’ compensation claims against the uninsured employers, but he has also been successful in eliminating or substantially reducing penalties pursued by the State of New York against employers.

“Should you be faced with a penalty for not having New York State Workers’ Compensation insurance or should you be faced with a New York State Workers’ Compensation claim by an employee when you failed to have New York State Workers’ Compensation coverage, please give me a call, I can help you through this stressful situation.” – Scott D. Frendel