What are Safety Groups?

Your Responsibilities as an Employer

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Reporting Injury and Illness

When a workplace injury or illness occurs, employers are required under Section 110 of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Law to report the incident to State Insurance Fund in a timely manner. Benefits of reporting cases immediately :

  • Allows the injured worker to receive treatment and benefits promptly,
  • Allows carrier ample time to investigate claim,
  • Has been shown to reduce the costs of a claim,
  • Avoid penalties for late filing,
  • Helps the insurer monitor and administer the claim, and
  • Ultimately leads to the injured worker returning to work faster.

How soon must employers report a workplace injury or illness?

  Employers should notify their insurer immediately if the injury or illness:

  • Caused (or will cause) the worker to lose time from regular duties beyond the working day or shift on which the injury occurred.
  • Required (or will require) the worker to receive medical treatment beyond ordinary first aid, or more than two minor medical treatments.

State Insurance Fund must file paperwork accepting or denying the claim on or before the 18th day after the workplace injury or illness occurred, or within 10 days after the employer learns of the event — whichever period is greater.

How do employers report a workplace injury or illness?

Report an injury

An online system has been implemented by the NYS Workers Compensation Board to process claims with more speed and efficiency. Faster resolution helps lower claim costs. This process starts with you, the employer, filing a new claim Electronic First Report of Injury (EFROI) with NYSIF.

Is there a penalty for untimely reporting?

  YES. Employers should notify State Insurance Fund immediately of a workplace injury or illness as penalties of up to $2,500 for late or missing reports are possible.

Can employers challenge a claim?

  YES. Add all facts and concerns to the additional info section in the Electronic First Report Of Injury. Cases are transmitted to Keevily and NYSIF at which point we will begin to manage the issues .

To learn more contact a member of your Keevily claims team:

Ivana Molinari, WC Claims Assistant (914) 269-9459 imolinari@keevily.com

Mary Dennis, WC Claims Assistant (914) 412-0511 mdennis@keevily.com

Demeika Wheeler, WC Claims Assistant/ERTW (914) 269-9441 dwheeler@keevily.com

Janice Robinson, Sr. WC Claims Specialist (914) 412-0572 jrobinson@keevily.com

Richard Whitehill, Sr. WC Actuarial Specialist (914)412-0509 rwhitehill@keevily.com

Genevieve Keller, WC Claims Manager (914) 412-0563 gkeller@keevily.com

Early Return to Work

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Reasons to Consider Early Return to Work to reduce your Workers Comp claim costs.

Reduce Claim Costs up to 70 Percent:  Not only are lost-time days reduced, but studies show medical costs are also reduced.  Premiums are loss sensitive, and claims impact your future costs.

Increase the Chances of your Employee Returning to Work:  There is only a 50% chance that an injured employee will return to work after a six-month absence; this declines to a 25% chance following a one-year absence and is further reduced to a 1% chance after a two-year absence.

Faster Recovery Period:  A good early return to work program treats work as therapy to help the injured worker recover three times faster than if they stayed at home.

Reduce Award Costs:  The potential for an injured worker to become permanently disabled is greatly reduced.

Reduce Fraud: Early return to work programs demonstrate that getting injured doesn’t necessarily mean getting paid for being out of work.

Increase Employee Morale:  Early return to work programs send the message that employees are a valuable asset rather than a disposable resource.

Early Return to Work can result in significant savings

It  can be applied to any industry and be successful with any company with some creative thinking.  The efforts are worth the savings.  An example of a company taking advantage of early return to work is Roto-Rooter Services Co. with workers’ compensation costs ranging from $1.40 million to $1.85 million each year. In 1993, after the launch of their early return to work program, this figure dropped to $365,000.

The research showed that three steps have the most impact:

  1. Early employer/worker contact
  2. An offer of lesser duties
  3. Contact between the employer and the doctor

And Keevily can help you coordinate the modified duty offer process.

Keevily has a specialized program that coordinates early return to work.  We work directly with the doctor and your company to develop a modified duty position and obtain approval from the treating physician.  We will help you through all the steps of the program and continue working with you until the injured worker is released to full duty. 

FORM

If you have any cases you would like us to review for Early Return to Work, please complete the “Job Demand Summary” and provide the injured worker’s name.