Legislative Alert: May 18, 2026

President's Message: PREVENT INSURANCE COMPANIES FROM UNJUSTIFIABLY DENYING BENEFITS  
S6376A Scarcella-Spanton/A8482A Cruz 

Working people deserve care when they are injured or become ill due to their work. That is why the New York State AFL-CIO supports amending the Workers’ Compensation Law by eliminating the requirement that injured workers demonstrate their attachment to the labor market in order to receive workers' compensation benefits.

Under current law, injured workers, who have already established that their workplace injury prevents them from working, are required to continually prove that they are seeking alternative employment. If they fail to do this, they are considered to have voluntarily withdrawn from the labor market and will lose critical benefits. The flawed reasoning is, if they cannot show that they are continually seeking work, they must not want to work, and therefore they are not entitled to benefits.

This rationale is flawed for several reasons. The labor market attachment requirement ignores the fact that these injured workers have already proven that they are unable to do the job that they were hurt performing. It also overlooks that injured workers are disproportionately employed in physically demanding jobs where workplace injuries often prevent them from performing any work they are qualified or experienced in. Furthermore, it disregards the reality that prospective employers frequently discriminate against injured workers when making hiring decisions, leaving them with little realistic opportunity to secure alternative employment.

Insurance carriers often make labor market attachment arguments after case reserves are set and employers’ experience modification factors are negatively impacted. The result is a windfall for carriers: they charge higher premiums while limiting losses by withholding wage replacement benefits.

This bill would eliminate an unnecessary burden on injured workers, help prevent carriers from denying benefits that are rightfully owed, and improve fairness within the workers’ compensation system.

Mario Cilento, President 

Upcoming Meeting 

LABOR LOBBYISTS MEETING 

Monday, June 1, 2026, 1p.m. 
This meeting will be located at the Albany office of the NYS AFL-CIO, 
100 South Swan St. Albany, NY.  
NYS Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon will be our guest speaker. 
This meeting is for labor representatives only. 
Please RSVP to Nagma Singh at [email protected]  

For further information contact Mike Neidl at 518-436-8516 or by email 
[email protected]