New York employers report a work-related injury or illness on Form C-2 — now issued as Form C-2F, the Employer’s First Report of Work-Related Injury/Illness. Section 110 of the Workers’ Compensation Law requires the report to reach the Workers’ Compensation Board and your insurance carrier within ten days of the accident.1New York State Senate. New York Workers’ Compensation Law 110 – Record and Report of Injuries by Employers Call your insurer before you fill anything out. If they file the First Report of Injury electronically with the Board on your behalf, you don’t have to submit the paper C-2F at all.2New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. New York Workers’ Compensation Form C-2F – Employer’s First Report of Work-Related Injury/Illness
When You Have to File
Not every workplace injury triggers a C-2. Section 110 requires a report when an on-the-job accident causes one of two things: the employee misses at least one full day of regular duties beyond the shift when the injury happened, or the injury needs medical treatment beyond ordinary first aid (or more than two first-aid treatments).1New York State Senate. New York Workers’ Compensation Law 110 – Record and Report of Injuries by Employers An occupational disease discovered during employment must also be reported on the same form. The Board chair can direct you to file a report on any other work-related accident even if it doesn’t meet those thresholds.
What to Gather Before You Start
The form asks for four groups of information. Pulling everything together before you open the PDF prevents most delays.
Employer and Insurance
You’ll need your Federal Employer Identification Number (or Social Security number if you don’t have an FEIN), your New York Unemployment Insurance number, your manual classification code, and your industry code.3Workers’ Compensation Board. New York Workers’ Compensation Board – C-2F Instructions For the insurance section: the carrier’s name, the Carrier Code Number (the “W Number”) issued by the Board, the policy number, and the policy’s effective and expiration dates. If a third-party administrator handles your claims, enter their T Number. Your insurer can supply the W Number if you don’t have it on hand.
Employee
You need the injured worker’s full name, Social Security number, date of birth, gender, mailing address, phone, email, date of hire, occupation, and employment status — full-time, part-time, seasonal, volunteer, and so on.3Workers’ Compensation Board. New York Workers’ Compensation Board – C-2F Instructions Enter the employee’s estimated average weekly gross pay before the injury and the number of days worked per week. Check those wage figures against payroll. They drive any lost-time benefits the worker receives.
Accident and Injury
Record the date and time of the injury, the date you learned about it, the physical location (street, city, state, county), and whether the accident happened on your premises. Add a plain description of how it happened, the nature of the injury, the body part affected, and the cause. List witnesses and their phone numbers. Stick to objective facts and the employee’s direct account. Speculation about fault is where reports go wrong.
Work Status and Treatment
The lower section tracks disability and return to work. Enter whether full wages were paid for the date of injury, the last day the employee worked, the date disability began, whether initial treatment was provided, and, if applicable, the date the employee returned to work and whether that return involved restrictions or a different employer.3Workers’ Compensation Board. New York Workers’ Compensation Board – C-2F Instructions If the injury resulted in death, enter the date of death and the number of dependents.
How to Submit It
There are three routes, and which one you use depends mostly on your insurer.
Let Your Insurer File Electronically
Most employers never send the C-2F in themselves. If your workers’ compensation carrier files the First Report of Injury electronically with the Board — which most do through Electronic Data Interchange — you are not required to submit the paper form.2New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. New York Workers’ Compensation Form C-2F – Employer’s First Report of Work-Related Injury/Illness Call the carrier first to confirm and to find out what details they need from you.
Submit Online Through the Board
The Workers’ Compensation Board accepts web-based claim submissions through its Online Services page.4Workers’ Compensation Board. Online Services If you’re filing directly instead of through the carrier, this is faster than paper and gives you immediate confirmation.
Mail the Paper Form
If you submit paper, send it to NYS Workers’ Compensation Board, PO Box 5205, Binghamton, NY 13902-5205.5Workers’ Compensation Board. NYS WCB Contact Information Use certified mail so you have proof of delivery inside the ten-day window. Send a copy to your insurance carrier as well.1New York State Senate. New York Workers’ Compensation Law 110 – Record and Report of Injuries by Employers Keep a copy for your own file.
The Ten-Day Deadline and Penalties
The statutory clock runs from the date of the accident, not the date you finished investigating.1New York State Senate. New York Workers’ Compensation Law 110 – Record and Report of Injuries by Employers The C-2F does include a “Date Employer Had Knowledge of the Injury” field, which the Board uses to weigh circumstances, but don’t hold the filing waiting for an internal review. Report what you know and supplement later.
Miss the deadline and there are two layers of exposure:
- An administrative fine of up to $2,500 for each instance of late or missing reporting.1New York State Senate. New York Workers’ Compensation Law 110 – Record and Report of Injuries by Employers
- A misdemeanor charge for refusing or neglecting to file, carrying a separate fine of up to $1,000.1New York State Senate. New York Workers’ Compensation Law 110 – Record and Report of Injuries by Employers
After the Filing
Once the Board has the C-2 data, it opens a case file and assigns a WCB Case Number. That number identifies every piece of correspondence, medical bill, hearing notice, and legal filing tied to the claim. Record it right away and share it with your insurer and anyone internally who handles the case.
The C-2 is only the employer’s side. The injured employee files a separate Form C-3 (Employee Claim) with the Board and has up to two years to do so. If the claim is accepted, the insurer contacts the worker, pays medical providers, and begins lost-wage benefits. If it’s disputed, the Board notifies the employee and may schedule hearings.
Two Things the C-2 Does Not Cover
Filing with the Workers’ Compensation Board does not satisfy OSHA. A work-related fatality must be reported to OSHA within 8 hours; a hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye must be reported within 24 hours.6Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Recordkeeping Recordable injuries and illnesses also go on your OSHA 300 Log and 301 Incident Report within seven calendar days of learning of the event.7Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Forms
On the medical side, HIPAA is not an obstacle. The Privacy Rule permits covered health-care providers to disclose protected health information without the employee’s authorization to the extent necessary to comply with workers’ compensation laws, so they can share records with the insurer, the employer, or the Board.8HHS.gov. Disclosures for Workers’ Compensation Purposes The minimum-necessary standard still applies to the scope of what’s released.