The New York workers’ compensation settlement chart assigns a fixed number of weeks of benefits to each body part, and your settlement value is that week count multiplied by your percentage of permanent impairment and your weekly benefit rate. For a fully lost arm the statute allows up to 312 weeks; for a hand, 244; for a leg, 288. Your weekly rate is two-thirds of your average weekly wage at the time of injury, capped at $1,222.42 for accidents between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026.
Scheduled Loss of Use Weeks by Body Part
Section 15(3) of the Workers’ Compensation Law sets the maximum weeks payable for a 100% loss of use. These numbers are statutory and don’t move based on pain, surgeries, or age.1New York State Senate. New York Workers’ Compensation Code 15 – Schedule in Case of Disability
- Arm: 312 weeks
- Leg: 288 weeks
- Hand: 244 weeks
- Foot: 205 weeks
- Eye: 160 weeks
- Hearing, both ears: 150 weeks
- Thumb: 75 weeks
- Hearing, one ear: 60 weeks
- First (index) finger: 46 weeks
- Great toe: 38 weeks
- Second finger: 30 weeks
- Third finger: 25 weeks
- Toe other than great toe: 16 weeks
- Fourth finger: 15 weeks
Most injuries aren’t total losses, so the week count on the chart is a ceiling. Your award is a percentage of it.
How the Chart Becomes a Dollar Amount
Three numbers drive every scheduled loss of use (SLU) calculation: the statutory weeks for the body part, your impairment percentage, and your weekly benefit rate.
Your Impairment Percentage
A doctor evaluates your permanent loss using the Workers’ Compensation Board’s impairment guidelines.2New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Workers’ Compensation Guidelines for Determining Impairment The evaluation can’t happen until you’ve reached maximum medical improvement, meaning your doctor has determined you’ve recovered as much as you’re going to. Range of motion deficits, nerve damage, and functional loss get converted into a percentage. A 40% loss of use of the hand means you’ve permanently lost 40% of that hand’s function compared to before the injury.
This is where disputes happen. The insurance carrier’s doctor and your treating physician frequently disagree, and a few percentage points can swing a settlement by thousands of dollars. Independent medical examinations exist to resolve that gap, which is why they’re one of the most contested parts of the process.
Your Weekly Benefit Rate
Your compensation rate is two-thirds of your average weekly wage at the time of injury, capped at the state maximum.3New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Disability Benefits, Rates and Awards C-500 For accidents between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026, the cap is $1,222.42 per week.4New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Workers’ Compensation Schedule of Maximum Weekly Benefit If two-thirds of your wage comes in below the cap, you receive the lower figure. If it exceeds the cap, you receive $1,222.42.
The date of injury locks the cap. Someone hurt in 2015 uses the 2015 maximum even if the settlement is finalized a decade later. Rates update annually, but the one in effect when the accident happened is the one that governs your claim.
The Formula, Worked Through
Multiply the body part’s maximum weeks by the impairment percentage, then multiply by the weekly benefit rate.
Take a worker earning $1,800 per week who injures a hand and receives a 50% impairment rating. Two-thirds of $1,800 is $1,200, which falls below the current $1,222.42 cap, so the weekly rate is $1,200. The hand carries 244 maximum weeks. At 50% impairment, that’s 122 weeks. Settlement value: 122 × $1,200 = $146,400.1New York State Senate. New York Workers’ Compensation Code 15 – Schedule in Case of Disability
Change a variable and the number moves. A 30% rating on the same hand drops the award to $87,840. A higher earner at the maximum rate would see $1,222.42 × 122 = $149,135.24. Running your own numbers before negotiating gives you a baseline.
What If My Injury Isn’t on the Chart?
The SLU chart covers extremities and senses. Injuries to the neck, back, brain, hip, or internal organs fall under a separate system that measures loss of wage-earning capacity (LWEC) rather than physical impairment to a specific limb. The Board looks at your physical limitations, education, work history, transferable skills, and age to estimate how much your ability to earn a living has dropped.
For injuries on or after March 13, 2007, the weekly benefit is two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury average weekly wage and your post-injury earning capacity, paid for a capped number of weeks based on your LWEC classification:5New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Awards for Loss of Use or Permanent Disability
- Greater than 95% LWEC: 525 weeks
- Greater than 90% through 95%: 500 weeks
- Greater than 85% through 90%: 475 weeks
- Greater than 80% through 85%: 450 weeks
- Greater than 75% through 80%: 425 weeks
- Greater than 70% through 75%: 400 weeks
- Greater than 60% through 70%: 375 weeks
- Greater than 50% through 60%: 350 weeks
- Greater than 40% through 50%: 300 weeks
- Greater than 30% through 40%: 275 weeks
- Greater than 15% through 30%: 250 weeks
- 15% or less: 225 weeks
A back injury classified at 50% LWEC maxes out at 300 weeks regardless of whether your limitations continue past that point. Classification is more subjective than an SLU evaluation, which is why non-scheduled claims tend to be harder-fought.
How the Settlement Gets Finalized
Most New York workers’ comp settlements close through a Section 32 Waiver Agreement, which resolves all or part of the claim for a lump sum or annuity. Once approved, whatever portion you settle is closed permanently.6Workers’ Compensation Board. Section 32 Waiver Agreements
The biggest decision in the negotiation is whether to close only your indemnity (cash) benefits or also waive future medical coverage. Waive medical, and every future treatment cost is yours. For younger workers or those with injuries likely to need ongoing care, the lump sum can look large today and erode fast against years of follow-ups, therapy, and prescriptions.
The Approval Wait and Payment Deadline
After the agreement is submitted, no approval can happen for at least 10 calendar days. That window lets any interested party ask the Board to disapprove.7Cornell Law Institute. New York 12 NYCRR 300.36 – Section 32 Waiver Agreements Once the agreement becomes final, the carrier has 10 calendar days to postmark your check. If the tenth day falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. Miss it, and the carrier owes a 20% penalty on the late amount.8New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Section 32 Waiver Agreements FAQ If your check arrives late, send the Board a letter with a copy of the check and the postmarked envelope to trigger the penalty.
What Comes Out of Your Check
Attorney Fees
Workers’ comp attorney fees in New York must be approved by the Board, and the statute governs the structure. For SLU awards, the fee is 15% of the compensation due above what the carrier had already paid. For Section 32 settlements, the fee is also 15% of the benefits payable under the agreement, but money allocated to future medical expenses is excluded from the calculation.9New York State Senate. New York Workers’ Compensation Code 24 – Costs and Fees Fees over $1,000 require a written fee application on a Board-prescribed form.
Taxes
Workers’ comp benefits, including lump-sum settlements, are excluded from federal gross income under 26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(1).10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 104 – Compensation for Injuries or Sickness You won’t owe federal income tax on your settlement check, and New York follows the same exclusion at the state level.
Social Security Disability Offset
If you receive SSDI along with workers’ comp, your combined monthly benefits can’t exceed 80% of your average earnings before you became disabled. When the total goes over, Social Security reduces your SSDI by the excess, and the reduction continues until you reach full retirement age or the workers’ comp stops.11Social Security Administration. How Workers’ Compensation and Other Disability Payments May Affect Your Benefits
Lump sums create a trap. Social Security can spread a lump sum across the period it’s meant to cover and treat it as ongoing monthly income for offset purposes. How the Section 32 agreement allocates the money, and over what period, can significantly change how much your SSDI shrinks. The wording of the agreement matters as much as the dollar amount.
Medicare Set-Aside
If you’re already on Medicare and settling for more than $25,000, or you reasonably expect to enroll in Medicare within 30 months and your settlement exceeds $250,000, CMS expects a Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA).12Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set Aside Arrangements A set-aside reserves part of the settlement for future injury-related medical care that Medicare would otherwise cover. Until those funds are exhausted on qualifying treatment, Medicare won’t pay for care tied to the work injury. Failing to fund one properly can jeopardize Medicare coverage for that treatment. CMS reviews proposals that meet the thresholds; below them, most settlements proceed without a formal set-aside, though Medicare’s interests are technically supposed to be protected regardless of the amount.