Rochester Business Journal

New York’s workers’ compensation premiums are among the highest in the country, a Rochester Business Alliance Inc. report shows.

The RBA is calling on state leaders to fully enact reforms passed in 2007.

“Five years later, those changes have only been partially implemented,” President and CEO Sandra Parker said in a statement Thursday. “As a result, New York’s workers’ compensation insurance premiums have continued to rise, and are now among the highest in the nation.”

The report is Unfinished Business: Five Years of Workers’ Compensation Reform, Still a Work in Progress. It is based on a work done by the Center for Governmental Research Inc. and developed under the guidance of the RBA’s Workers’ Compensation Reform Committee, the RBA said.

“Central to our mission as the regional chamber of commerce is our promise to listen to business and advocate for its needs,” Parker wrote in a letter to RBA members.

“Time and again, you have told us that you need a reliable, affordable workers’ compensation system that balances the interests of injured workers and employers.”

Copies of the report, including seven recommendations for change, have been sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, leaders in the state Legislature, and members of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board, the RBA said.

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