Off The Record TRR Workers’ Comp Municipal Workers

Video Transcript

Janet: Hey, Bill. I got a call from a New York City police officer today. Got hurt on the job. Is there anything we can do for him?

Bill: He’s a uniformed New York City police officer?

Janet: Correct.

Bill: They are not covered under the New York State workers’ compensation system. They basically get their full salary through the department and their medical is covered under their medical plan. And if they have to retire due to the injury, they go through the New York Police Department for retirement, due to disability.

There are certain categories of municipal workers that are not covered under the workers’ compensation law. And off the top of my head, I’ll tell you, New York City police officers are one. Okay? New York City firefighters are not covered under the workers’ compensation law. They also have, you know, their own system that they use, similar to what the police have.

Uniformed sanitation workers, the guys you see working on the garbage trucks in New York City, they’re not covered by workers’ comp either. Okay? They go through a separate system for the city workers. Also, New York City schoolteachers are not covered by the workers’ compensation law, except for shop teachers. They are covered.

Janet: Now, Suffolk County, it doesn’t fall under that umbrella.

Bill. That’s different. The Suffolk County Police are covered under workers’ compensation, although they do get most of their benefits through salary continuation. And the firefighters we have out here usually volunteer, and there is a segment of the workers’ compensation law that covers volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance drivers, too. But the teachers out here are covered under the workers’ comp system.

Janet: So, basically, most things under New York City, the municipal workers at least, they’re not covered by workers’ compensation?

Bill: Well, the uniformed workers like, as I said, the police officers, the firefighters, sanitation workers, and teachers. They’re not uniformed, but… Yeah, there a number of city workers, though, that are covered under workers’ comp.

Janet: So, I guess the best thing to do when they call is, if they don’t fall into one of those categories, I can always look it up.

Bill: Right. Yeah. You know, a lot of the emergency services people, like the EMT workers, they’re covered under workers’ comp.

Janet: All right. Good to know.

Bill: But it’s best to just have an attorney screen it and, you know, see if workers’ comp applies to them. And if they are a police officer or a firefighter, we can help them and guide them in the right direction. We have attorneys that we work with that will be able to help them.

Janet: Okay, thanks.

Bill: Thank you.