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Attendance & Leave
Manual
- 21.1 Sundays & Holidays
- 21.2 Vacation
- 21.3 Sick Leave
- 21.4 Extended Sick Leave
- 21.5 Sick Leave at Half-Pay
- 21.6 Personal Leave
- 21.7 Leave for Extraordinary Weather Conditions
- 21.8 Workers' Compensation Leave
- 21.9 Leave for Subpoenaed Appearance and Jury Attendance
- 21.10 Leave for Civil Service Examinations
- 21.11 Leave for Quarantine
- 21.12 Leaves Required by Law or Negotiated Agreement
- 21.13 Leave for Civil Defense Duties
Drawing of Earned Credits Upon Separation
(Part 23)
- 23.1 Payment for Accruals Upon Separation
- 23.2 Payment for Accruals Upon Entry into Armed Forces
- 23.3 Payment for Overtime Accruals Upon Appointment, Promotion or Transfer
Crediting Other Public Service Employment as State Service (Part 24)
A. Civil Service Attendance Rules
B. Calendar of Legal Holidays & Religious Holy Days
General Information Bulletin No. 1993-03
Section 21.8 Workers' Compensation Leave - June 23, 1993
TO: Personnel Officers
FROM: Peter Elmendorf, Director; Personnel Services Division
SUBJECT: Workers' Compensation Update
This General Information Bulletin covers the following subjects: reporting accidents for volunteers and patients to the State Insurance Fund (SIF) and procedures when leave credits are used beyond the waiting period under the CSEA and DC-37 Statutory Benefit Program.
I. REPORTING ACCIDENTS SUSTAINED BY VOLUNTEERS AND PATIENTS TO THE STATE INSURANCE FUND
When a State agency reports an accident to the State Insurance Fund, it is critical that the agency identify the injured employee's negotiating unit. The State Insurance Fund requires the negotiating unit to establish a workers' compensation claim and to identify the employee's benefit entitlement. If you are unable to identify the employee's negotiating unit, please contact the Employee Relations Section at the Department of Civil Service (518) 457-5167.
As part of the ongoing effort to improve the negotiating unit information contained in our database, we have identified two groups of individuals that are entitled to benefits pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Law that we do not currently identify separately. They are:
1. authorized volunteers who are providing services at State agencies; and
2. patients of the Office of Mental Health (OMH) and clients of the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) who are working in sheltered workshops that are operated by either OMH or OMRDD.
Although none of these individuals are employees for the purposes of other benefits, they are eligible for Workers'...
...Compensation Law coverage under the New York State workers' compensation policy with the State Insurance Fund for accidents sustained while working in their respective programs.
Accordingly, it is necessary to identify these individuals as program participants to ensure that they are provided the proper benefits as specified under New York State Workers' Compensation Law. To identify a program participant at the time the accident is reported to the State Insurance Fund, please provide the following program participant designation on the initial written and/or telephone accident report to SIF in lieu of the negotiating unit code provided for other employees.
|
PROGRAM |
DESIGNATION |
| Volunteer | VV |
| OMH patient or OMRDD client at a State-operated sheltered workshop | PA |
Please begin using these program participant designations immediately. As always, if you have any questions concerning an individual's entitlement to workers' compensation coverage, contact SIF immediately.
II. PROCEDURE WHEN AN EMPLOYEE CHARGES CREDITS BEYOND THE WAITING PERIOD UNDER THE CSEA AND DC-37 STATUTORY BENEFIT PROGRAM.
Employees covered under the CSEA and DC-37 Statutory Benefit Program (i.e., employees in ASU, ISU, OSU, DMNA, and RRSU with accidents on or after July 1, 1992) are allowed to charge leave credits to cover their first five days of absence, which is the waiting period, and then are placed on workers' compensation disability leave without pay for the duration of their full day compensable work-related absences. The use of leave credits is not allowed for any full day absences beyond the five day waiting period.
Occasionally, the situation will arise when an employee who is absent due to a work related injury charges leave credits beyond the five-day waiting period. This may happen when either the employee does not timely report his or her injury to the agency or when the agency does not learn of the accident until after the waiting period even though the employee reported the accident...
...timely. Once an agency is aware that an employee is absent due to an occupational injury, the employee should be placed on workers' compensation disability leave without pay at the first possible date for which the employee has not already been paid and the SIF should be notified immediately of the date the employee is placed on leave without pay. If a paycheck has been issued but has not been released, it is appropriate to return the unreleased paycheck and back date the leave without pay transaction accordingly. If a paycheck(s) has already been issued to an employee that covers a period beyond the first five days for which the employee used leave credits, the agency should not submit a PR-75 to retroactively change an employee's status to workers' compensation disability leave and, therefore, attempt to collect an overpayment from the employee. Should the period of time that the employee inappropriately charged leave credits beyond the five day waiting period be found compensable by the Workers' Compensation Board, those credits will be restored on a prorated basis following a credit to New York State as detailed in Policy Bulletin 92-01, Section 21.8 of the Attendance and Leave Manual.
For assistance or further information on this bulletin or for assistance in administering the workers' compensation benefit programs, please contact the Employee Relations Section at (518) 457-5167.