The money
New York workers' comp benefits & payments
Every cash benefit in the system flows from one formula. Understand it and you understand your claim.
- Every cash benefit = ⅔ × AWW × % disability, within the state min/max.
- Medical care is fully covered — no deductible or copay.
- Workers' comp benefits are generally not taxable.
…then capped at the state maximum and floored at the minimum for your date of injury. Your Average Weekly Wage (AWW) is built from your gross earnings (including overtime) over the 52 weeks before the injury — and a second job's wages can be combined (WCL §14). Estimate yours →
The four kinds of disability
Total (TTD) & Partial (TPD)
While you heal. Total = ⅔ of AWW; partial scales by your disability %. Paid as long as the disability and wage loss continue.
Permanent Total (PTD)
66⅔% of AWW for life, no cap — e.g., loss of both hands, both legs, or both eyes.
Schedule Loss of Use (SLU)
A fixed number of weeks for permanent loss of an arm, leg, hand, finger, eye, or hearing — paid whether or not you returned to work. See the table →
Non-Schedule PPD
For back, neck, and systemic injuries. Paid on your loss of wage-earning capacity, capped in weeks by the 2007 reforms. See the cap table →
Medical & travel
- All causally-related care is fully covered — no deductible, no copay — by a Board-authorized provider.
- Travel to treatment is reimbursed: 70¢/mile (2025), 72.5¢/mile (2026), via Form C-257.
The 7-day / 14-day rule
- No cash benefits for the first 7 days of disability…
- …but if disability runs beyond 14 days, you're paid retroactively to day one. Medical care has no waiting period.
- The carrier must start paying (or formally dispute) generally within 18 days.
Death & survivor benefits (WCL §16)
- ⅔ of the worker's AWW, shared among the surviving spouse and minor children (to 18, or 23 if a full-time student), capped at the max rate.
- If no spouse or dependent children, surviving parents or the estate may receive $50,000.
- Funeral / burial allowance: up to $12,500 in NYC, Long Island, Westchester & Rockland; up to $10,500 elsewhere.