Stipulation forms

The Board recently updated two forms that allow parties to enter into stipulations resolving issues that are in dispute. The Stipulation (Form C-300.5) and Agreed Upon Findings and Awards for Proposed Conciliation Decision (Form C-312.5) now require parties to indicate whether a fee is payable to prior counsel who was discharged by the claimant. The Form C-312.5 now requires parties to indicate whether there is a pending application for administrative review that will be withdrawn upon approval of the stipulation. These changes avoid the need for the Board to contact parties for clarification and/or to submit an amended Form C-300.5 or Form C-312.5, enabling faster review and approval of stipulations. Both forms also now allow parties to enter an unlimited amount of text in the "terms of the agreement" field, eliminating the need to submit an attachment with the information. Note that these forms must be opened in Acrobat Reader. For instructions on how to open/download them, see https://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/forms/AllForms.jsp#how-to.

Employee Claim form

The eCase document upload feature allows injured workers, payers, and attorneys to upload certain documents directly to the case folder to use as evidence at scheduled hearings. When a claim is controverted, Board regulations require that the claimant submit an Employee Claim (Form C-3) at or before the pre-hearing conference that is scheduled in all controverted claims. If they fail to do so, the case is adjourned and the resolution delayed. The Board recently introduced an enhancement whereby the C-3 form is now one of the documents that can be uploaded as evidence at a hearing. The ability to submit this form via document upload on the date of the pre-hearing conference will result in far fewer cases having to be adjourned, thus expediting the resolution of controverted claims. Attorneys who have not previously submitted the required Form C-3 should be prepared to do so at the pre-hearing conference.

Notifying Board of waived attorney/legal representative fees

If an attorney/legal representative waives a fee, it must be noted in writing and submitted directly to the case file. Do not use the online claims inquiry form for this purpose.