I passed out and hit my head at work in New York: the two deadlines that start the day it happens

Q: Do I have to tell my employer in writing after a work injury in New York?

Workers' Compensation Law § 18 calls for notice of the injury to be given to the employer within thirty days after the accident, and it describes a written notice giving the employee's name and address and stating in ordinary language the time, place, nature and cause of the injury; it may be delivered to the employer or sent by registered mail to the employer's last known place of business. The section allows the Workers' Compensation Board to excuse a failure to give notice — for instance where the employer or the person in charge where the accident occurred had knowledge of it, or where the employer was not prejudiced. Because relying on an excuse is riskier than writing a note, the practical answer is to put it in writing and keep a copy.

Q: Is an injury covered by workers' compensation if I fainted rather than tripping on something?

It depends on the facts, and it is the question most likely to be disputed. Where a fall begins with a medical episode rather than with a hazard, what matters is why the loss of consciousness happened and what about the work or the workplace contributed to the injury that followed — for example what the person struck, or from what height. That inquiry is medical and legal at once, which is why the fainting episode itself should be evaluated and documented rather than treated as a footnote to the head injury. Nobody should assume from a general page either that such a claim is covered or that it is not; a workers' compensation representative or attorney should look at the medical records.

Q: How long is there to file a workers' compensation claim in New York?

Workers' Compensation Law § 28 provides that the right to claim compensation is barred unless a claim is filed within two years after the accident, or within two years after death where death results, and it sets out its own exceptions — a separate structure for occupational disease claims, which run from disablement and from when the claimant knew or should have known the condition was work-related, and a rule that a case in which advance payments have been made is not barred by a failure to file. The employer and the carrier are also treated as having waived the bar if they do not raise it at the first hearing at which all parties are present. Notice to the employer runs on the much shorter thirty-day period in Workers' Compensation Law § 18.

Question

Passed out and hit my head at work.

A. Jason Velez · Accepted Answer

A head injury at work in New York is handled through the workers' compensation system, and two separate deadlines start on the day it happens: notice of the injury to your employer, and the claim itself, which is filed with the Workers' Compensation Board and is not the same thing as telling a manager. Your message is short, so this answer is general on purpose. It does not assume how the fainting happened, what you struck, whether you were seen by a doctor, or whether anyone besides your employer has anything to do with it. Start with the notice. Workers' Compensation Law § 18 requires that notice of an injury be given to the employer within thirty days after the accident, and the section describes what that notice contains: it is to be in writing, to give the employee's name and address, and to state in ordinary language the time, place, nature and cause of the injury. The same section says a failure to give notice can bar a claim, but that the Board may excuse it — including where the employer, or the person in charge of the business where the accident happened, had knowledge of the accident, or where the employer has not been prejudiced by the delay. That escape valve is real, and it is also not something to rely on. A short signed note to your employer, with a copy kept, is a five-minute job that removes the question. Then the claim. Workers' Compensation Law § 28 bars the right to claim compensation unless a claim is filed within two years after the accident, with exceptions in the section for occupational disease and for cases in which advance payments have been made, and with the employer and carrier deemed to have waived the bar if they do not raise it at the first hearing at which all parties are present. Filing with the Board is a step you take; nothing about a manager's awareness of the fall does it for you. There is a question your message raises that only medical evidence can answer. A fall that begins with someone passing out is treated differently depending on why it happened and on what the person struck, and that inquiry — into the cause of the loss of consciousness and into what about the workplace contributed to the injury — is often the contested issue in a case like this one. It means two things practically: get the fainting itself evaluated, not just the head; and expect the employer's insurer to ask about it. A head injury also deserves care independent of any claim. Symptoms that arrive or worsen over the following days — headache, confusion, nausea, vision changes, memory trouble — are reasons to be seen again, and they are also what makes the medical record complete. What you can do 1. Report the injury to your employer in writing now, with the date, the time, where you were and what happened, and keep a dated copy. 2. Get medical attention for the head injury and for the fainting episode, and tell every provider that it happened at work. 3. Ask your employer for the name of its workers' compensation insurer and for the claim number once a report is made. 4. Keep every record: the emergency or urgent care paperwork, imaging, follow-up notes and any work restrictions. 5. Write down the symptoms day by day, along with any work you have missed. 6. Speak with a New York attorney or a licensed workers' compensation representative about filing the claim with the Board, and let them evaluate whether anything beyond the compensation claim applies to your facts. ⏱ Time limits apply. Workers' Compensation Law § 18 sets thirty days after the accident for notice of the injury to the employer, and Workers' Compensation Law § 28 bars a compensation claim not filed within two years after the accident; both run from the day you were hurt. If your facts ever involve a party other than your employer, CPLR 214(5) gives three years for a personal injury action from the same date, and far shorter periods apply where a public corporation is involved. Whether any period has run depends on your own date, which this page does not have — take it to a New York attorney or representative rather than counting from here.

I passed out and hit my head at work in New York: the two deadlines that start the day it happens

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