Gorayeb & Associates explains the 2/3’s formula, why the ceiling pushes higher earners well below that share, & what the compensation system never pays at all.
NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, August 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — New York’s maximum weekly workers’ compensation benefit rose to $1,281.50 on July 1 and the minimum rose to $384.45, the state Workers’ Compensation Board announced in April. Gorayeb & Associates, P.C., the New York construction accident firm known as The People’s Lawyers, is issuing this advisory because the increase will not reach most workers who hear about it.
The figures apply only to claims with dates of injury between July 1, 2026, and June 30, 2027. The Board states the rule without softening it. A worker’s rate is set by the date of injury and does not increase when new maximums are adopted. A construction worker hurt in June remains capped at $1,222.42 for the life of that claim.
That lock cuts deepest at the bottom. The statutory minimum sat at $150 a week from May 2013 through the end of 2023, and the lowest paid workers hurt anywhere in that stretch are still held to a $150 floor today.
The arithmetic at the other end surprises people just as often. Benefits equal two thirds of the average weekly wage multiplied by the degree of disability in the medical record. The maximum is two thirds of the state average weekly wage for the prior year, which the Department of Labor set at $1,922.25 for 2025. A totally disabled worker earning more than that strikes the ceiling and takes home less than the two thirds he expected. A worker making $2,500 a week with overtime collects $1,281.50, roughly 51 percent of his pay.
“Every July somebody walks in holding a notice about the new maximum, thinking his check is going up,” said Christopher J. Gorayeb, founding partner of Gorayeb & Associates. “It is not. His rate was set the morning he got hurt and it sits there. I have clients still being paid on a number this state walked away from years ago.”
One piece of this is real progress. The minimum rose to $275 for 2024 injuries, to $325 for 2025, and now equals one fifth of the state average weekly wage instead of a flat figure written into the statute. Low-wage workers no longer wait on the legislature.
None of it touches the rest of the loss. Compensation replaces part of a paycheck and pays for medical care. It pays nothing for pain and suffering and nothing to a spouse for the loss of companionship. On a construction site, a civil claim against the property owner or general contractor under Sections 240 and 241 of the New York Labor Law can recover them, and it proceeds alongside the compensation case.
“Look at your award notice. Find your weekly rate and the date of injury it was calculated from. Those two numbers tell you what the next ten years look like,” Gorayeb said. “Then ask who else was working that site. The carrier will never mention there is a second case, and the second case is where the rest of the money lives.”
About Gorayeb & Associates, P.C.
Founded in 1986 by Christopher J. Gorayeb, Gorayeb & Associates, P.C. is a New York personal injury law firm concentrating in construction accident and occupational injury litigation. The firm has recovered more than $2 billion for more than 12,000 injured workers and their families. Known to the communities it serves as The People’s Lawyers; the firm provides bilingual representation in English and Spanish throughout New York City and New York State. More information is available at www.gorayeb.com.
Sources
New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, Subject Number 046-1805, New Maximum and Minimum Weekly Benefit Rates
https://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/SubjectNos/sn046_1805.jsp
New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, Workers’ Compensation Lost Wage Benefits
https://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/Workers/LostWageBenefits.jsp
New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, Subject Number 046-1754, New Maximum Weekly Benefit Rate Effective July 1, 2025
https://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/SubjectNos/sn046_1754.jsp
New York Labor Law Section 240, Scaffolding and Other Devices for Use of Employees
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LAB/240
Gorayeb & Associates, P.C.
https://www.gorayeb.com/en/
Media Contact:
Mark Goldman
Goldman McCormick PR, INC
+1 516-639-0988
mark@goldmanmccormick.com
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Media gallery
