A New York contractor sends its crew to a job in New Jersey. A delivery driver based in Queens gets hurt unloading in Pennsylvania. A home health aide travels with a client to Florida for the winter. Each of them lives in New York, and each of them was hurt somewhere else.
Many people assume that settles it: hurt in another state, claim in another state. Often it does not. New York’s workers’ compensation system can cover an injury that happened outside the state, as long as your job has enough of a connection to New York.
The test: “sufficient significant contacts”
When the injury happens outside New York, the Workers’ Compensation Board can hear the claim only if there are sufficient significant contacts between your employment and New York to reasonably conclude that the job was, at least to some extent, based here. The Board looks at the whole picture, including:
- where you live
- where you were hired
- where you actually work, and where your employer has offices
- whether you were expected to come back to New York after the out-of-state job
- how much of your employer’s business is done in New York
No single factor decides it. The question is whether, taken together, the facts show a New York job that happened to take you somewhere else, or an out-of-state job held by someone who happens to live here.
Living in New York is not enough by itself
This is the point that surprises people most. In Matter of Lleshaj v. Delta D., Inc. (2024), a New York truck driver hired online from his home by an Illinois trucking company was hurt in Pennsylvania. The company had no offices in New York, and there was no evidence of how much of his work touched New York or how much business the company did here. The Appellate Division upheld the Board’s finding that his New York residence alone was not enough, and the claim was dismissed.
Compare Matter of Barnett v. Callaway (2017). A worker who had lived in New York for decades was hired in New York, kept up her employer’s New York home, and lived and worked there part of each year, traveling with the employer to Florida for the rest. She was hurt in Florida. The court found sufficient New York contacts, and the claim belonged in New York.
The difference was not where either person lived. It was how much of the job itself was rooted in New York.
Situations where a New York claim is often possible
- Temporary assignments. A New York employer sends you to a job in New Jersey, Connecticut or Pennsylvania, and you are expected to come back when it ends. The Board’s own guidance is that a New York policy covers incidental travel and temporary work outside the state.
- Routes that start and end here. Drivers dispatched from a New York yard or terminal who are hurt on the out-of-state part of the run.
- Business travel. A conference, a training, a client visit or a sales trip for a New York-based job.
- Work directed from New York. Your work site is elsewhere, but your employer runs the work from a New York office or pays you from here.
The harder cases are jobs with an out-of-state company that has little or no presence in New York, especially when the work was almost entirely outside the state. Those can still succeed, but they need facts beyond your address.
When two states may both have a claim
An out-of-state injury can give you a claim in New York and also in the state where you were hurt. The two systems pay different weekly amounts, use different rules for doctors and deadlines, and treat permanent injuries differently. You generally cannot collect full benefits twice for the same injury; benefits paid in one state are usually credited in the other.
That makes the choice of where to file an important one, and it is best made before anything is filed. We can tell you whether your case has a strong New York claim; if the better claim belongs in the other state, we will tell you that too.
What to do now
- Report the injury to your employer in writing within 30 days, wherever it happened, and keep a copy.
- Get treatment where you are if you need it right away. Once you are home, you can treat with a Board-authorized doctor in New York.
- Gather the facts that show your New York connection: where you applied and were hired, your offer letter or agreement, pay stubs showing the employer’s address, dispatch or assignment records, and where you report to work.
- Do not file in the other state before getting advice. Where you file first can shape your options.
- Call us. The Board holds hearings by video, so it does not matter where you are while the case goes on.
For more on claims that cross a border, including where your doctor can be and what changes if you were hurt elsewhere in New York State, see injured at work outside Staten Island. If you live outside New York yourself, see live outside New York? You may still have a New York claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
I live in New York but got hurt at work in another state. Can I file in New York?
Often, yes, if your job has sufficient significant contacts with New York, such as being hired here, working mostly here, an employer based here, or being expected to return here after the out-of-state assignment. Living in New York alone is usually not enough.
Is living in New York enough for a New York workers’ comp claim?
No. Courts have held that a New York residence by itself does not establish New York jurisdiction for an out-of-state injury. The Board looks at the whole employment relationship.
My New York employer sent me to a job in New Jersey and I got hurt. Is that a New York claim?
Usually it can be. Temporary assignments and incidental travel outside the state for a New York-based job are commonly covered by New York workers’ compensation.
Can I file in both states?
An out-of-state injury may give you a claim in both states, but you generally cannot collect full benefits twice. Benefits paid in one state are usually credited in the other, so the choice of where to file matters.
Do I have to travel to New York for hearings?
No. Workers’ Compensation Board hearings are held virtually, and you must be on camera when you testify.
Talk to a New York workers’ compensation attorney
The Law Offices of Frank J. Dito, Jr. handles workers’ compensation claims from the office on Staten Island, for injured workers throughout the five boroughs and across New York State. If you live in New York and were hurt on the job somewhere else, call before you file anywhere.
Call 718.701.2776 or 800.310.5520. Consultations are free. If we don’t recover money for you, we don’t get paid.
