Small Business Coverage and Peace of Mind
New York is a state of superlatives, from dazzling Manhattan to the powerful splendor of Niagara Falls. Not only is the Empire State home to New York City, one of the most illustrious cities in the world, but it also rolls on through the Adirondack Mountain Park, one of the largest wilderness areas in the United States. The Hudson River Valley was the cradle of colonial America, and the Finger Lakes region attracts millions of tourists with wineries, hotels and cultural events.
If New York were an independent nation, its economy would rank fifteenth largest in the world. As home to the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and numerous Fortune 500 companies, it would seem that New York is all about big businesses. However, 99 percent of all companies in the Empire State are classified as small businesses. There are roughly two million of these independently owned and operated businesses, and they employ more than 51 percent of New York’s non-farm, private-sector workforce.1 New York adopted one of the nation’s first workers’ compensation laws in 1909 and has had a “no fault” insurance system since 1914. Workers’ compensation laws in New York provide benefits to workers who need more than first aid due to a workplace injury or occupational disease. New York workers’ compensation law also provides rehabilitation services for those who are catastrophically injured and compensation to survivors of those killed on the job.2
Virtually all for-profit employers in New York State must provide workers’ compensation coverage for their employees, including part-time workers, borrowed or leased employees, volunteers and family members. Workers’ compensation insurance must also be provided for all school teachers and aides, domestic workers who are employed more than 40 hours per week and farm workers who are paid more than $1,200 per year. Those exempt from coverage include volunteers at non-profit organizations, clergy members, and members of supervised amateur athletic activities operated on a non-profit basis.3
The Empire State is a leader in many fields such as the provision of workers’ compensation insurance for its millions of small-business employees. It’s a fact of life that accidents happen, and workers’ compensation and employer’s liability insurance both protects employers from costly lawsuits and provides relief to injured workers when mishaps occur.
New York Workmans’ Comp Coverage You Need
Interested in learning more about how EMPLOYERS can help your New York business? Request a quote for workers’ compensation insurance from EMPLOYERS!
Thousands of small businesses trust EMPLOYERS for providing cost-effective workers’ compensation insurance for over a century. With our competitive pricing, financial stability and dependability, claims service, safety training and risk advisory programs, EMPLOYERS remains focused on keeping America’s small businesses not only working, but working safely.
1. “Small Business Statistics,” New York Small Business Development Center, 2015, www.nyssbdc.org/resources/smallbizstats.html (link no longer available).
2. “Centennial,” New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, 2014, https://www.ny.gov/programs/new-york-state-wwi-centennial-commission
3. “Workers’ Compensation Coverage,” New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, 2015, www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/onthejob/CoverageSituations/nonprofit.jsp (link no longer available)
In New York, insurance is offered through Employers Compensation Insurance Company, Employers Assurance Company and Employers Preferred Insurance Company. Not all insurers do business in all jurisdictions.