Home health aides and personal care aides do some of the hardest physical work in New York, usually alone, in someone else’s home, with none of the lifting equipment or coworkers a hospital has. Staten Island has a large senior population, and thousands of aides travel between clients across the island every day. If you were hurt while caring for a client, you are covered by New York workers’ comp, even though you were working in a private home.

The short answer

  • You are covered whether you work through a home care agency, through CDPAP or directly for a family that employs you full time.
  • Comp pays your medical treatment and part of your lost wages, plus an award if you are left with permanent damage.
  • It does not matter that you were hurt in a client’s home, or that the client caused it.
  • Travel between clients is usually part of the job, so an injury on the way from one client to the next is generally covered.
  • If you work for more than one agency, your benefits can be based on your wages from all of them.
  • Immigration status does not matter. See workers’ comp for undocumented workers.

Who your employer is

  • Agency aides. If a home care agency hired you and pays you, the agency is your employer and its workers’ comp insurance covers you, not the client or the client’s family.
  • CDPAP personal assistants. Since 2025, the statewide fiscal intermediary, Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), is the employer of CDPAP personal assistants. Your claim goes through PPL’s coverage, even if the person you care for is a relative.
  • Aides hired directly by a family. A household that employs a domestic worker for 40 or more hours a week is required to carry workers’ comp. If the family did not buy it, you may still be paid through the state’s Uninsured Employers Fund. See when your employer has no workers’ comp insurance.

Common injuries for home health aides

  • Back, neck and shoulder injuries from lifting, turning, bathing and transferring clients, often without a lift or a second person. See lifting injuries and hernias.
  • Falls on stairs, rugs, wet bathroom floors and icy walkways and stoops.
  • Assaults and injuries from clients, including clients with dementia who do not mean to hurt you. See assaulted at work.
  • Dog bites from a client’s pet.
  • Car and bus accidents while traveling between clients or running errands for a client.
  • Repetitive strain from cleaning, cooking and personal care. See repetitive strain injuries.

Working more than one job

Many aides work for two agencies, or have a second job, to make a full week. In New York, if you were working more than one job when you were hurt, your average weekly wage can include your earnings from all of them, which can raise your weekly benefit. Tell us about every job you had. See how your average weekly wage is figured.

If someone else caused your injury

If you were hurt by a dangerous condition in a client’s home, a dog, or a driver who hit you on the way to a client, you may also have a personal injury claim against that person, in addition to your comp claim. Call us first: we will handle your comp claim and put you in touch with a lawyer who handles those cases, and coordinate the two so your comp benefits are protected.

What to do after an injury

  1. Call your agency or coordinator right away, and give written notice of the injury within 30 days. Text or email works, as long as you keep a copy.
  2. Get medical care, and tell the doctor you were hurt at work.
  3. Write down the client’s address, what happened and anyone who saw it.
  4. Don’t let the agency talk you out of filing or tell you to use your own health insurance instead.
  5. File your claim with the Workers’ Compensation Board within two years.
  6. Call us if the agency or carrier says you are not covered.

Frequently asked questions

Is a home health aide covered by workers’ comp in New York?

Yes. Home health aides and personal care aides are covered by workers’ comp through their employer, usually the home care agency, even when they are hurt in a client’s home.

I’m a CDPAP aide caring for a family member. Am I covered?

Yes. Since 2025, Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), the statewide fiscal intermediary, is the employer of CDPAP personal assistants, and a work injury goes through its workers’ comp coverage, even if the person you care for is a relative.

A client with dementia hurt me. Can I file a claim?

Yes. An injury caused by a client is a work injury, whether or not the client meant to hurt you. Report it in writing and get medical care.

Am I covered if I’m hurt traveling between clients?

Generally yes. When travel between clients is part of your job, an injury during that travel is usually covered. Your trip from home to your first client and home from your last client is treated differently, so call us to talk through your situation.

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 care for clients on Staten Island or anywhere in New York and were hurt on the job, call us.

Call 718.701.2776 or 800.310.5520. Consultations are free. If we don’t recover money for you, we don’t get paid.