On December 6, 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul signed new legislation, S.6635/A.5745, to support employees facing job-related mental health issues. The law, which went into effect on January 1, 2025, will allow any employee to file for workers’ compensation for specific types of mental health injuries based on extraordinary work-related stress. Under the revised Section 10(3)(b) of New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law, “[w]here a worker files a claim for mental injury premised upon extraordinary work-related stress incurred at work, the [Workers’ Compensation Board] may not disallow the claim upon a factual finding that the stress was not greater than that which usually occurs in the normal work environment.”
How does this change the workers’ compensation law?
This is a marked expansion of coverage for employees in New York, as previously only first responders facing post-traumatic stress disorder were eligible for such benefits. The new law also removes the condition imposed on first responders bringing these claims—that the stress was incurred during a “work-related emergency.” And as was the case with the legislation enacted in 2017 with respect to first responders, the removal of any requirement that the stress suffered be greater than normal stress sustained by similar workers will likely result in a significant increase in claims filed due to extraordinary work-related stress, although, as noted below, there are likely to be developments related to what qualifies as “...
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