2010 New York Code
WKC - Workers' Compensation
Article 2 - (9 - 35) COMPENSATION
35 - Safety net.

§  35.  Safety  net.  1. Return to work. (a) The commissioner of labor
  will issue a report to the governor, the speaker of  the  assembly,  the
  majority  leader  of  the  senate, and the chairs of the labor, ways and
  means and finance committees of the assembly and  senate  on  or  before
  December  first, two thousand seven, making recommendations as to how to
  assure that workers categorized by the board  as  permanently  partially
  disabled   return   to   gainful   employment  to  the  greatest  extent
  practicable.  Such  commissioner  will   consider   administrative   and
  legislative remedies, and shall include estimates of cost in the report.
  The   report  shall  examine  best  practices  and  the  laws  of  other
  jurisdictions, as well as any relevant programs authorized by  New  York
  law.  The  report shall additionally examine return to work practices as
  implemented by carriers, the state insurance fund,  employers,  and  the
  board.   It   shall   also   examine   the  relationship  of  vocational
  rehabilitation to ultimate return to work.
    (b) The commissioner of labor will be assisted by an advisory  council
  constituted of six persons appointed by the governor as follows:
    (i)  a representative of organized labor appointed upon recommendation
  of  the  New  York  State  American  Federation  of  Labor-Congress   of
  Industrial Organizations;
    (ii)  a  representative  of  the  business  community  appointed  upon
  recommendation of the Business Council of New York State, Incorporated;
    (iii) one person upon recommendation of the  majority  leader  of  the
  senate;
    (iv)  one  person  upon recommendation of the speaker of the assembly;
  and
    (v) two other persons in the governor's discretion.
    2. Total industrial disability. No provision of this article shall  in
  any  way  be  read  to  derogate  or impair current or future claimants'
  existing rights to apply at any time  to  obtain  the  status  of  total
  industrial disability under current case law.
    3.  Extreme  hardship  redetermination.  In  cases  where  the loss of
  wage-earning capacity is greater than eighty  percent,  a  claimant  may
  request,  within the year prior to the scheduled exhaustion of indemnity
  benefits under paragraph w of subdivision three of  section  fifteen  of
  this  article, that the board reclassify the claimant to permanent total
  disability or total industrial  disability  due  to  factors  reflecting
  extreme hardship.
    4.  Annual  safety  net  reporting.  The  commissioner  of  labor,  in
  conjunction with the board and the superintendent  of  insurance,  shall
  track  all  claimants who have been awarded permanent partial disability
  status and report annually on December first, beginning in two  thousand
  eight, to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, the majority leader
  of  the  senate, and the chairs of the labor, ways and means and finance
  committees of the assembly and senate:
    (i) The number of said claimants who have:
    (1) returned to gainful employment;
    (2) been recategorized as being totally industrially disabled;
    (3) remain subject to duration limitations set forth in paragraph w of
  subdivision three of section fifteen of this article; and
    (4) not returned to work, and whose indemnity payments have expired.
    (ii) The additional steps the commissioner contemplates are  necessary
  to  minimize the number of workers who have neither returned to work nor
  been recategorized from permanent partial disability.