STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9986
IN ASSEMBLY
June 5, 2014
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Abbate) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to the
exchange of information between the workers' compensation board and
the New York city employees' retirement system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 of section 25 of the work-
2 ers' compensation law, as amended by chapter 92 of the laws of 1973, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (c) If the employer or comptroller of the state or city of New York or
5 trustees duly constituted under any welfare, pension or benefit plan,
6 agreement or trust to which the injured employee is a party or of which
7 he or she is a beneficiary, and which plan, agreement or trust shall
8 provide that the injured employee shall not be entitled to or shall be
9 limited in the amount of benefits or payments thereunder if he or she
10 shall be entitled to benefits under this chapter, shall have advanced or
11 paid benefits or payments thereunder to the injured employee during any
12 period in which his or her right to benefits under this chapter was not
13 determined, then and in such event such employer or comptroller of the
14 state or city of New York or trustees shall be entitled to be reimbursed
15 out of the unpaid instalment or instalments of compensation due,
16 provided claim therefor is filed together with proof of the terms of
17 said plan, agreement or trust and of the fact and amount of payment with
18 the board before award of compensation is made. The New York city
19 employees' retirement system shall provide to the board on a monthly
20 basis a listing in an electronic format including the names and social
21 security numbers of injured employees to whom benefit payments were paid
22 or advanced by such system and whose benefit payments are limited by
23 workers' compensation benefits awarded under this chapter. The board
24 shall verify which injured employees have been awarded workers' compen-
25 sation benefits and return the listing to the New York city employees'
26 retirement system including, but not limited to, the following informa-
27 tion relating to the award for each injured employee: date of accident,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15425-01-4
A. 9986 2
1 board case number, carrier identification number, carrier case number,
2 beginning and ending dates of disability, payment interval, and payment
3 amount. The board shall return the listing to the New York city employ-
4 ees' retirement system no later than fourteen days after its receipt.
5 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE. -- PROVISIONS OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION: This proposed
legislation would amend Workers' Compensation Law ("WCL") Section
25.4(c) to require that the Workers' Compensation Board ("WCB") provide
the New York City Employees' Retirement System ("NYCERS") with informa-
tion relating to Workers' Compensation benefits awarded to retirees of
NYCERS whose pension payments are subject to an offset by those bene-
fits.
Currently, WCL Section 25 allows NYCERS to file claims with the WCB
for reimbursement of pension benefit payments advanced or paid to reti-
rees before Workers' Compensation benefits are awarded. However, confir-
mation of which retirees have received Workers' Compensation benefits
has not been forthcoming which has impacted NYCERS' ability to implement
the offset provisions and initiate the claim process in a timely manner.
This proposed legislation would authorize NYCERS to provide a listing
in electronic format to the WCB of injured employees to whom benefit
payments were paid or advanced and whose benefit payments are offset by
Workers' Compensation benefits with the requirement that the WCB verify
which injured employees have been awarded Workers' Compensation benefits
and return the listing to NYCERS with certain information related to
their awards no later than fourteen days after its receipt.
The Effective Date of the proposed legislation would be the date of
enactment.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS, EMPLOYER
NORMAL COST, ACTUARIAL ACCRUED LIABILITY AND EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: The
enactment of this proposed legislation is expected to result in little
or no change in the Actuarial Present Value of Benefits, Employer Normal
Cost, Actuarial Accrued Liability or employer contributions to NYCERS.
The enactment of this proposed legislation would, however, result in
more accurate and timely processing of certain disability benefit
payments from NYCERS.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES: The enactment of this
legislation would result in some administrative expenses to NYCERS and
the WCB, offset by savings to NYCERS in the processing of certain disa-
bility benefit payouts.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Robert C. North, Jr., am the Chief
Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems. I am a Fellow of the
Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries
to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This estimate is intended for use only
during the 2014 Legislative Session. It is Fiscal Note 2014-02, dated
December 12, 2013, prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City
Retirement Systems.
