New York Workplace Injury Lawyer: NYC Best Workplace Attorneys

New York workplace injury laws are complicated.

The legislature has periodically considered a change, from strict to comparative liability, where reimbursements would reflect the worker’s own relative fault for the accident, but no bill has passed.

Here’s where we currently stand on NY workplace injury laws:

Does an employer or property owner have strict liability under NY workplace law, and if so, what does that mean?

A property owner and the building owner under New York Labor Law 240 has strict liability and what that means is they’re strictly held liable to the worker who is injured on the construction site as well as their family.

The Labor Laws are strict liability laws, meaning an injured worker only needs to prove that the injury was caused on the construction job, in a specific way (e.g., something fell on him).

What is Labor Law 241 or the Safe Place to Work Law?

Labor Law 241 is a statute that applies to many different types of accidents at work sites. It doesn’t apply to accidents from heights or gravity-related accidents because that’s covered by Labor Law Section 240. If you trip and fall over debris on the ground or have other kinds of accidents, that’s going to be governed by Labor Law 241.

This Labor Law 241 is pretty powerful. One of the main benefits of that statute is it holds the building owner and general contractor liable to you.

You should be aware going in that it does have a comparative negligence standard so the defendants are going try to show that you are negligent in some way at the time the accident occurred.

The purpose of Labor Law 241 is to protect workers from slips/falls, and other hazards at ground level

Compared to Section 240, it is similar, but focuses on the safety of a construction site at ground level.

Coverage:

• Specific provisions for construction, demolition, and excavation on worksites
• Mandate actions and safety equipment for buildings during construction or before demolition

Requirements:

• Thick planking for elevator shaftways, hatchways, and stairwells across the opening

Application:

• Strict liability
• All site owners, except for owners of one- or two-family homes (and those that do not control the work of any employees).

It’s basically like common law negligence in New York where you show that the other party was negligent and they try to show that you were comparatively at fault but on the Labor Law 241 in New York state the owner of the building is liable along with the general contractor and other contractors in the chain other than your employer.

Find a Skilled NY Workplace Law Attorney for Employee Claims

If you believe your employer violated a labor law, you have valuable legal rights and deserve to speak to well-informed lawyers. Labor and workplace law can be tricky, but an experienced New York personal injury attorney can review the details of your case, evaluate your legal options, and help you get the compensation you deserve. If your workplace injury occurred in New York City, learn how our NYC workplace injury lawyers can help you pursue full compensation under city-specific labor laws.