What to Expect at a New York Workers’ Comp Hearing
Here is what to expect at a workers’ compensation hearing in New York: a virtual proceeding lasting a few minutes, in front of a judge, in which your attorney and the insurance carrier’s attorney argue about one narrow issue while you mostly listen. Then it ends, and you may have no idea what just happened.
That reaction is so common it is almost the norm.
“At workers’ comp we use a ton of acronyms and there’s just a lot of shorthand, and you could be at a hearing and have no clue what happened.” Emily F. Janicz, partner
This page is built to fix that, including a glossary of the shorthand you will actually hear.
Have a hearing coming up? Call Lewis & Lewis, P.C. at (716) 854-2100. Free consultation, answered 24/7.
This is Stage 3 of the New York Workers’ Compensation Resource Center.
What is the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board?
It is the state agency that administers every workers’ compensation claim in New York, and it is not a court. It has its own judges, its own forms, its own appeal track, and its own vocabulary.
The practical differences matter. There is no jury. There are no opening statements. The rules of evidence are looser than in a courtroom, and the medical record does most of the work that testimony would do in a civil trial. Your case is decided by a Workers’ Compensation Law Judge, referred to constantly as a WCLJ.
You can follow your own file through the Board’s eCase system, which shows filings and decisions as they land.
What actually happens at a New York workers’ comp hearing?
Hearings are held on the Board’s virtual platform, and they are short. Most run a matter of minutes and address one issue rather than the whole case.
Who is there: the judge, your attorney, the carrier’s attorney, and you. Represented claimants and any lay witness scheduled to testify are required to appear on video with their face visible on screen, so it is not a phone call you can take from the truck.
What happens: the judge identifies the issue, hears from both attorneys, takes testimony if testimony was scheduled, and then either rules from the bench or reserves the decision. Testimony from doctors happens separately, at a scheduled deposition, not in the hearing itself.
In-person hearings are available. Since October 2024, a party who has attended a virtual hearing can ask a judge to hold the next one in person at a Board location. It has to be arranged in advance.
What you should do: show up on time, on video, in a quiet place, and let your attorney speak unless the judge addresses you. If you are asked to testify, answer the question asked and stop.
A plain-English glossary of New York workers’ comp shorthand
This is the language you will hear at a hearing and read in your decisions. Bookmark it.
| Term | What it stands for | What it means for you |
| WCB | Workers’ Compensation Board | The state agency running your claim |
| WCLJ | Workers’ Compensation Law Judge | The judge who decides the issues in your case |
| AWW | Average Weekly Wage | Your pre-injury weekly earnings figure. Every cash benefit is calculated from it |
| Rate | Weekly benefit rate | Two-thirds of your AWW multiplied by your degree of disability, capped by the state maximum for your injury date |
| TTD | Temporary Total Disability | You cannot work at all right now |
| TPD | Temporary Partial Disability | You can do some work right now, at a reduced level |
| MMI | Maximum Medical Improvement | Your condition has improved as much as it is expected to. Permanency is assessed from here |
| SLU | Schedule Loss of Use | A separate award for permanent loss of function in a limb, eye, or ear |
| PPD | Permanent Partial Disability | A permanent injury that reduces but does not eliminate your earning capacity |
| PTD | Permanent Total Disability | A permanent injury that removes your earning capacity entirely |
| LWEC | Loss of Wage Earning Capacity | The percentage a judge assigns in a non-schedule permanency case. It sets how many weeks you are paid |
| IME | Independent Medical Examination | An exam by a doctor the insurance carrier hired |
| LMA | Labor Market Attachment | Proof you are looking for work you can physically do |
| MTG | Medical Treatment Guidelines | The state’s standards for what treatment is appropriate for a given body part |
| MSA | Medicare Set-Aside | Money set aside from a settlement to cover future injury-related care if you have or will have Medicare |
| Section 32 | Section 32 waiver agreement | A negotiated settlement that closes out your claim |
| Controverted | Disputed | The carrier is formally contesting the claim |
| NFA | No further action | The Board is not scheduling anything else right now. It does not mean your case is over |
| C-3 | Employee Claim | The form that opens your claim |
| C-7 | Notice That Right to Compensation Is Controverted | The carrier’s formal dispute of your claim |
| C-4.3 | Doctor’s Report of MMI/Permanent Impairment | Your treating provider’s permanency report |
| C-257 | Record of Medical and Travel Expenses | How you claim mileage and travel reimbursement |
| C-258 | Record of Job Search Efforts | How you document labor market attachment |
| RFA-1W | Request for Further Action by Injured Worker | How you ask the Board to schedule a hearing |
| RB-89 | Application for Board Review | How a decision gets appealed |
Every one of these terms is defined by the Board itself in its official glossary.
Still holding a decision you cannot read? Call (716) 854-2100 and someone will translate it.
“Did I win?” How to read a Notice of Decision
The Notice of Decision is the written record of what the judge ruled, and it is the document that answers the question. It is mailed and posted to your file after the hearing.
Read three things in this order.
The findings. What the judge established: the body parts accepted as part of the claim, your average weekly wage, and your degree of disability for the period at issue.
The awards. What is being paid, at what rate, for which weeks. If the numbers here differ from what you have been receiving, that difference is the outcome.
The directives. What the Board expects next, and from whom. This is where deadlines hide. A line telling you to produce medical evidence or file job search documentation is an instruction with consequences, not a suggestion.
If the decision says no further action is planned, that is not a loss. It usually means nothing is currently in dispute and the file is quiet until someone raises something.
The honest reason claimants leave hearings confused is that the shorthand is doing a lot of work in a very small space. Emily used to get the question in the hallway:
“I do miss going to the comp board in person just so that I was right there with my client when we walked out of the hearing for them to grab my arm and say, ‘Did I win?'”
Why does medical evidence decide the outcome?
Attorney Emily Janicz
Because in a comp case the medical record is the case. Testimony about how much pain you are in cannot substitute for a report from an authorized provider saying the same thing in the language the Board accepts.
“I can present the evidence. I can make the arguments, but I can’t present evidence that doesn’t exist.” Emily F. Janicz, partner
Three requirements do most of the damage when they are missed.
The provider has to be Board-authorized. Outside a genuine emergency, an unauthorized provider’s opinion will not be considered.
The reports have to keep coming. New York expects follow-up reports at intervals of no more than 90 days while treatment continues. A quiet stretch in the medical record reads to a carrier as a claimant who has recovered.
The report has to say the right things. A narrative that omits your work status, the causal relationship to the injury, or your temporary impairment percentage can be found legally defective, which means it is worth nothing at the hearing even though the doctor wrote it.
This is also where a firm’s local relationships stop being a talking point and start being useful:
“We have worked over the years to really develop a lot of relationships with medical providers in the area. It helps us in knowing where to direct our clients to go. It helps us in getting medical evidence when we need it.” Emily F. Janicz, partner
How many hearings will your case have?
More than one, and possibly a great many. A comp claim is not a single trial with a verdict at the end. It is a long sequence of small decisions, each one scheduled when something needs resolving.
“A workers’ compensation claim is not like a personal injury trial where you have one hearing, one trial, one day in court and that’s the end. With workers’ comp, I have clients where I’ve had 20, 30, all kinds of large numbers of hearings with the same person over a long period of time.” Emily F. Janicz, partner
Reframe it if you can. A file that keeps generating hearings is a file that is still open and still paying, which is the point of the system. It is also the reason continuity of representation matters here in a way it does not in most areas of law.
That volume is why comp attorneys are in front of the Board constantly:
“A workers’ compensation attorney gets to go to court almost every single day, whereas a personal injury attorney sometimes might not try a case for a year or longer.” Emily F. Janicz, partner
How do you appeal a workers’ comp decision in New York?
By filing Form RB-89, the Application for Board Review, within 30 calendar days of the filing date of the judge’s decision. That deadline is set by Workers’ Compensation Law § 23 and it is the one nobody gets back.
The track after that:
Board Panel review. A panel of three Board members reviews the judge’s decision on the record. The other side has 30 days to file a rebuttal.
Full Board review. A party can ask the full Board to reconsider a panel decision, generally within 30 days. Full Board review is mandatory in limited circumstances, including where a panel member dissents.
Appellate Division, Third Department. From there the case leaves the Board and goes to court, generally within 30 days of notice of the Board’s decision.
Note the direction it runs in both ways. The carrier appeals too, and a favorable decision can be challenged just as your unfavorable one can. The Board explains the process on its hearings, agreements and appeals page.
Hearing questions people ask the week before
Do I have to speak at my own hearing?
Usually not. Most hearings are argued by the attorneys on a single issue, and you attend without testifying. When testimony is scheduled, your attorney will tell you beforehand and prepare you for it.
What happens if I miss a hearing?
Tell your attorney the moment you know. A missed appearance can lead to a decision made without your input, and in some situations a claimant who fails to appear when directed can have benefits suspended. It is fixable far more easily before the date than after.
Can I bring my spouse or a family member?
For a virtual hearing, someone can sit with you, but only people the judge recognizes participate, and anyone off camera should stay quiet. Do not let a family member answer for you.
How long until I get paid after a hearing?
An award directed at a hearing typically produces payment within a couple of weeks, and the written decision tells you what is owed. If it does not arrive, the delay itself is something the Board can address, and there are penalties for late payment.
Bring the decision you do not understand
Nobody expects you to arrive fluent in this. Bring the paperwork, including the parts that look like nothing, and someone here will walk you through what it says and what happens next.
Lewis & Lewis, P.C. has been protecting injured workers’ rights across Western New York for over 80 years, from offices in Depew, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Batavia, Olean, and Jamestown.
Call (716) 854-2100 or contact the firm online for a free consultation.
More reading on the Board, hearings, and decisions
- What Is the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board?
- Everything to Know About Your Workers’ Compensation Hearing
- Erie County Workers’ Comp Hearing
- What to Expect at Your Chautauqua County Workers’ Compensation Hearing
- Understanding and Tracking Your Workers’ Compensation Case Status
- What Is a Workers’ Compensation Notice of Decision?
- Appealing a Workers’ Compensation Board Decision
- How MMI Factors Into Your Workers’ Compensation Claim
- Workers’ Compensation: Permanent vs. Temporary Disability
- How to Calculate Workers’ Compensation Benefits
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