05/12/2026
If you got hurt at work and your boss handed you a 1099 at the end of last year, you may have been told: "You're a contractor — workers' comp doesn't apply to you."
That answer is often wrong.
Businesses in New York — especially in construction, restaurants, delivery, and home care — have a long history of misclassifying employees as independent contractors to avoid paying workers' compensation insurance premiums. It saves them money. It leaves you exposed.
But here's what most people don't know: the Workers' Compensation Board doesn't just accept whatever label a company puts on a tax form. They apply their own test to figure out whether a real employer-employee relationship existed.
They look at things like:
- Did the company control how you did the work — your methods, your schedule, your location?
- Did you use their tools and equipment?
- Were you working almost exclusively for this one company?
- Could they fire you whenever they wanted?
If the answers point toward control — the Board can find that you were an employee, regardless of what the 1099 says. Courts in New York have done exactly that, even when workers signed contractor agreements.
So if you were hurt on the job and the response was "you're not our employee" — that is the beginning of a legal question, not the end of one.
General info only. Every case turns on its specific facts.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
General information only — not legal advice.
