Relates to eligibility for classification as permanent total disability; includes inability to perform the full range of sedentary work or approval for federal social security disability benefits as a result of a compensable accident or occupational disease as constituting permanent total disability.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
391
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, REYES -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to eligibil-
ity for classification as permanent total disability
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 15 of the workers' compensation
2 law, as amended by chapter 675 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read
3 as follows:
4 1. Permanent total disability. In case of total disability adjudged to
5 be permanent sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of the average weekly
6 wages shall be paid to the employee during the continuance of such total
7 disability. Loss of both hands, or both arms, or both feet, or both
8 legs, or both eyes, or of any two thereof, or inability to perform the
9 full range of sedentary work, or approval for federal social security
10 disability benefits as a result of a compensable accident or occupa-
11 tional disease shall, in the absence of conclusive proof to the contra-
12 ry, constitute permanent total disability. In all other cases permanent
13 total disability shall be determined in accordance with the facts.
14 Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an injured employee
15 disabled due to the loss or total loss of use of both eyes, or both
16 hands, or both arms, or both feet, or both legs, or of any two thereof
17 shall not suffer any diminution of his compensation by engaging in busi-
18 ness or employment provided his earnings or wages, when combined with
19 his compensation, shall not be in excess of the wage base on which the
20 maximum weekly compensation benefit is computed under the law in effect
21 at time of such earning; further provided, that if the combination
22 exceeds such wage base, the compensation shall be diminished to an
23 amount which, together with his earnings or wages, shall equal the wage
24 base; and further provided that the application of this subdivision
25 shall not result in reduction of compensation which an injured employee
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01590-01-3
A. 391 2
1 who is disabled due to the loss or total loss of use of both eyes, or
2 both hands, or both arms, or both feet, or both legs or of any two ther-
3 eof, would otherwise be entitled to under any other provision of this
4 section. For the purposes of this section, inability to perform the
5 full range of sedentary work shall mean the inability to exert up to ten
6 pounds of force occasionally or up to one-third of the workday, or the
7 inability to exert a negligible amount of force frequently to lift,
8 carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects, including the home body,
9 and examples of the inability to perform the full range of sedentary
10 work shall include but not be limited to the inability to sit for at
11 least six hours in an eight-hour day and occasionally walk or stand for
12 no more than two hours in an eight-hour day. In circumstances where the
13 inability to perform the full range of sedentary work involves the
14 performance of unskilled sedentary work, related activities of a non-e-
15 xertional nature such as seeing, hand-manipulation, and understanding,
16 remembering, and carrying out simple instructions shall be considered.
17 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to inju-
18 ries subject to the provisions of the workers' compensation law arising
19 on and after the effective date of this act.
