Off The Record: TRR Workers’ Comp Covid 19 Claims

Video Transcript

Hi, this is Bill Turley, in Turley Redmond & Rosasco, still on COVID-19 lockdown. I’m here today to talk to you about what you need to do if you think you’ve been exposed to the COVID-19 virus at work. Now there are certain categories of essential workers that we’re always hearing about in the news today, like the health care workers, transportation workers, and grocery store workers. And those are considered essential workers and they’re more susceptible to contracting the virus because they come in contact with sick people and they come in contact with the general public on a regular basis. But filing a claim for COVID-19 is not limited to that class of workers. Anyone who believes that they have contracted the virus at work can file a claim. So the first thing you need to do is seek immediate medical attention and get tested if possible.

The second thing you need to do is notify your employer that you have been exposed to the virus and you’ve been diagnosed. And you have 30 days from the date that you get that diagnosis to notify your employer, that satisfies the notice requirement. The third thing you need to do is file a claim with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. And you have two years from the date that you were diagnosed with the condition to file your claim. And you can accomplish this in two ways. You can go to the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board website at www.wcb.ny.gov, go to the form section, and look for form C-3. The first way you can file it is just print the form out, fill it out and then either mail it in or fax it to the Workers’ Compensation Board. The other thing you can do is do an E filing. And you can…there’s a form called the form EC-3, which you can submit online. And, again, that has to be done within two years of the date that you’re diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus.

These are all three very important steps that you need to take to protect you for lost wage benefits and medical care, and if there are any future problems related to the virus, you would be protected for that as well. I hope all of you are staying safe and staying well. And we hope to be up and running as soon as we get the green light. This is Bill Turley, and thank you for watching