NY Bill on Benefits for Injured Workers Who Aren’t Seeking Jobs Awaits Hochul’s Action

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Five months after the New York State Senate passed it 60 to 0, Assembly Bill A8482A still has not been delivered to Governor Kathy Hochul, the official legislative record shows. The bill would bar insurance carriers and employers from withholding, reducing, or conditioning an injured worker's compensation on proof that he remains attached to the labor market. Last year a comparable workers' compensation bill reached the governor on December 8 and was vetoed four days later, and Gorayeb & Associates, P.C., the New York construction accident firm known as The People's Lawyers, is issuing this advisory before that window opens again.

Under current law, a carrier can withhold wage replacement benefits from a worker who proves he cannot return to his job by arguing that he voluntarily withdrew from the labor market, because he did not look for lighter work his injury still allows. The sponsor's memo in the Senate notes that this defense grew out of court decisions rather than statute, and that 2017 amendments intended to limit it did not succeed. When an employer offers no light duty, the memo puts the odds that a new employer in an unfamiliar field will hire that worker at zero.

"We see it with laborers, carpenters and ironworkers all the time," said Christopher J. Gorayeb, founding partner of Gorayeb & Associates. "A man with a crushed foot gets told he should have been applying for office jobs. He has never held an office job, and the carrier knows it."

That earlier bill, A2748, would have expanded permanent total disability; WorkCompCentral reported that the governor cited an unfunded liability of at least $800 million in rejecting it. She also vetoed a bill defining temporary total disability on December 30, 2022. A8482A carries stronger support, having cleared the Senate without a dissenting vote, while A2748 passed 42 to 16. If signed, it would add a new subdivision to Section 15 of the Workers' Compensation Law and take effect immediately.

"If a carrier cut your checks because you were not job hunting, do not treat that as the final word," Gorayeb said. "Keep every application you sent and every restriction your doctor wrote and bring them to a lawyer before your hearing. Those records decide these cases."

About Gorayeb & Associates, P.C.
Founded in 1986 by Christopher J. Gorayeb, Gorayeb & Associates, P.C. is a New York personal injury law firm concentrating in construction accident and occupational injury litigation. The firm has recovered more than $2 billion for more than 12,000 injured workers and their families. Known to the communities it serves as The People's Lawyers, the firm provides bilingual representation in English and Spanish throughout New York City and New York State. More information is available at https://www.gorayeb.com/en/.

Sources

New York State Senate, Assembly Bill A8482A, 2025 to 2026 Legislative Session
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A8482/amendment/A

New York State Senate, Senate Bill S6376A and Sponsor Memo
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S6376/amendment/A

New York State Senate, Assembly Bill A2748, Vetoed December 12, 2025
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A2748

WorkCompCentral, Governor Vetoes Proposed Expansion of Permanent Total Disability
https://www.workcompcentral.com/news/article/id/623ed0eae9be606df699a30b3549c8d8b318d2a4

LegiScan, New York Senate Bill S768, 2021 to 2022 Session, Vetoed December 30, 2022
https://legiscan.com/NY/bill/S00768/2021

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