Whether you love heading to work every day or your job is simply a paycheck, the last thing you want is to experience an injury.
Unfortunately, work-related injuries can happen on almost any type of job site. Even if your job has you stuck at a desk, you can still suffer an injury. Did you know that workers’ compensation covers most physical injuries, but what about your mental suffering?
Recovering compensation for PTSD in a workplace injury claim may be possible but you’re going to need to follow a few steps. Understanding New York state law is also key if you’re planning on claiming a mental health injury.
Table of Contents
Are Employers Required to Carry Workers’ Compensation Insurance?
The laws regarding workers’ compensation vary by state. Some states like Texas don’t require employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Other states like New York do require most employers to carry the insurance. There are a few exceptions but chances are your employer has the insurance.
If you’re not sure what workers’ compensation is and what it covers, here’s a quick summary. Workers’ compensation is outside of your health insurance. Think of it as a type of extra coverage. Workers’ compensation typically pays out claims for medical expenses, property damage, and lost income. If your injuries are severe or even permanent, workers’ comp may even provide long-term disability benefits.
Best of all, workers’ compensation is considered no-fault insurance so you can usually recover compensation even if you’re responsible for causing the job-related accident. In other words, you don’t need to prove negligence to file an injury claim.
Workers’ compensation does have a key requirement. Your injuries must occur either at work or while you’re performing job-related tasks. If your accident isn’t job-related, you probably can’t file a workers’ compensation claim.
While New York does require most employers to carry the insurance, some businesses and organizations are exempt. These can include the following:
- Most non-profit organizations are exempt from NY state worker compensation laws
- Religious organizations are usually exempt
Some smaller businesses may not be legally required to carry workers’ compensation. This typically only applies to companies with five or less employees. If you’re wondering if a company needs to have workers’ comp for family employees, the answer is usually yes. The only exception may be if family members are the only staff and they number less than 5.
Does Workers’ Compensation Cover Mental Health Injuries?
Being injured in a workplace accident can be traumatic. You may be left with some physiological injuries like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Ignoring symptoms of mental trauma can lead to other physiological conditions like severe depression that can turn life-threatening. Treating PTSD and other mental health conditions should be a priority but therapy is expensive.
If your job-related accident results in PTSD is treatment covered under workers’ compensation? The answer typically depends on state laws. Some states don’t cover PTSD and other mental health conditions through workers’ compensation. You need to turn to your health insurance provider to cover these expenses.
However, New York does allow injured employees to include psychological injuries in their claims. However, the emotional trauma must stem from either abnormal stress or the employer’s actions contributed to the severity of your injuries.
Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim in New York for Physiological Trauma
Filing a workers’ compensation claim for physiological trauma follows the same steps as physical injuries. This helps prevent confusion when it’s time to start filling out the paperwork.
Report the Accident
New York gives injured employees 30 days to report an incident to their employer. If you miss the 30-day window, there’s a good chance you can’t file a workers’ comp claim. You must notify your employer in writing. A quick conversation with your boss doesn’t meet the standard.
Your accident report must describe how the incident occurred, along with where and when it happened. You’ll also provide a brief description of your resulting damages but don’t worry if you’re still getting the specifics. This is only an initial report. You can provide a detailed list of your damages on your C-3 form.
Fill Out Form C-3
The law can be a little confusing when you get to this step. You only have 30 days to notify your employer, but you have up to two years to file a claim with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board.
The filing deadline starts on the date of the accident. Not when you notify your employer. This is when you provide detailed information about your resulting injuries and other possible damages like property repair and lost income. If your claim includes PTSD, list it on the form.
What happens if you miss the two-year statute of limitations? While there can be a few exceptions to the statute, chances are, you won’t be able to recover compensation through workers’ comp insurance.
Provide Plenty of Evidence
Even though you can skip showing negligence in a workers’ compensation claim, you still need to provide proof of your damages. This is a type of insurance and the adjuster is going to request documentation.
Usually, you provide proof of your damages shortly after sending in your C-3 form. You can submit the form and your supporting evidence together sometimes this can help speed up the claim process. If you don’t have everything ready with Form C-3, don’t panic. Usually, you can submit the necessary documentation when the insurance adjuster schedules a meeting.
What type of evidence should you plan on submitting? This depends on the type of damages you’re claiming. The initial report you filed with your employer acts as proof the incident occurred.
If you’re claiming lost income, your employer can supply past pay stubs and other financial documents. Your medical records can do more than prove you sustained physical injuries. The records can also support your PTSD claim.
Recovering Your Maximum Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Even though filing a workers’ compensation claim is usually relatively easy, it’s a little different recovering compensation for psychological trauma like PTSD.
To help ensure that you receive the maximum compensation for your job-related accident, you should partner with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney.
