Board Bulletins and Subject Numbers
December 9, 2025
Currently, attorneys and legal representatives are required to appear on video for all New York State Workers' Compensation Board (Board) virtual hearings.
Beginning February 2, 2026, all claimants and lay witnesses testifying in virtual hearings will also be required to appear and testify by video with their faces fully visible on screen.
- Represented claimants can appear by video to testify from the office of their attorney or legal representative, or from another location. A claimant's attorney or legal representative is responsible for ensuring that their client appears and testifies at a virtual hearing by video. The failure of an attorney or legal representative to ensure their client appears and testifies by video may result in a penalty being assessed against counsel.
- All lay witnesses scheduled to testify at a virtual hearing before the Board are also required to appear and testify by video. The party producing the lay witness and their attorney or legal representative are responsible for ensuring that their witness appears and testifies at a virtual hearing by video. The failure of a party, or their attorney or legal representative, to ensure that their witness appears and testifies by video may result in preclusion of the witness and a penalty being assessed against the party or their counsel.
- Unrepresented claimants are also required to appear and testify by video. However, in rare instances when an unrepresented claimant is unable to appear at a virtual hearing by video because they do not have access to the necessary technology, the claimant may be permitted to appear and testify at the scheduled hearing by telephone.
This requirement will be reflected in Board hearing notices beginning January 8, 2026.
Note: If the claimant is not testifying at a virtual hearing, they are encouraged but not required to appear by video.
Why the Board is implementing this requirement
In 2018, the Board introduced its state-of-the-art virtual hearings, allowing participants to attend workers' compensation proceedings by video from their home or office. Virtual hearings enabled the Board to continue to adjudicate claims during the COVID-19 pandemic, with participants appearing at virtual hearings from remote locations. Today, almost all workers' compensation hearings continue to be virtual, and while participants have the ability to appear by video in these hearings using a computer or mobile device, many claimants and lay witnesses continue to appear by telephone, with no video connection.
Having all participants who testify at virtual hearings appear on video is crucially important. It allows everyone involved in the hearing to hear and see the other participants, and observe their demeanor, body language, and facial expressions, greatly aiding communication.
Virtual hearings etiquette/expectations Along with the new requirement to appear on video, please note the following reminders regarding virtual appearances:
- Parties should always be respectful in their communications at hearings. All hearings (whether in person or virtual) are formal legal proceedings, and parties are required to maintain a civil, respectful and professional demeanor when appearing, and abide by the Standards of Civility for Proceeding before the Board.
- All participants in virtual hearings should attend from a suitable and appropriate location, free from noise, distractions and interference for the duration of the hearing.
- A claimant should dress in appropriate attire for the virtual hearing appearance, as they would for an in-person hearing.
- If attending via a mobile device, it is recommended that a claimant use a tripod or other stable set up to ensure they can interact with parties and fully participate in the hearing.
Additional guidance about attending virtual hearings can be found in the Board's Virtual Hearings Guide for Claimants .
If you have questions regarding this requirement, please write to the Office of General Counsel at officeofgeneralcounsel@wcb.ny.gov.
Freida D. Foster
Chair