N.Y. Laws » CHAPTER Workers' Compensation / ARTICLE Compensation
New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Workers' Compensation Law § 33 (2026)

Assignments; exemptions

✓ text as retrieved May 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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§ 33. Assignments; exemptions. Compensation or benefits due under this
chapter shall not be assigned, released or commuted except as provided
by this chapter, and shall be exempt from all claims of creditors and
from levy, execution and attachment or other remedy for recovery or
collection of a debt, which exemption may not be waived provided,
however, that compensation or benefits other than payments pursuant to
section thirteen of this chapter shall be subject to application to an
income execution or order for support enforcement pursuant to section
fifty-two hundred forty-one or fifty-two hundred forty-two of the civil
practice law and rules. Compensation and benefits shall be paid only to
employees or their dependents, except as hereinafter in this chapter
provided. In the case of the death of an injured employee to whom there
was due at the time of his or her death any compensation under the
provisions of this chapter, the amount of such compensation shall be
payable to the surviving spouse, if there be one, or, if none, to the
surviving child or children of the deceased under the age of eighteen
years, and if there be no surviving spouse or children, then to the
dependents of such deceased employee or to any of them as the board may
direct, and if there be no surviving spouse, children or dependents of
such deceased employee, then to his estate. An award for disability may
be made after the death of the injured employee.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2017–2024 · leading case: Matter of Green v. Dutchess Cnty. BOCES, 183 A.D.3d 23 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep't 2020).
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Matter of Green v. Dutchess Cnty. BOCES, 183 A.D.3d 23 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep't 2020). “As relevant here, "[i]f there be a surviving child or children of the deceased under the age of eighteen years, but no surviving spouse[,] then [the award is payable] to such child or children" (Workers' Compensation Law § 15 [4] [c]; see Workers' Compensation Law § 33).”
Flatbush Chiropractic, P.C. v. Am. Tr. Ins. Co., No. 2017 NYSlipOp 50105(U) (N.Y. App. Term. Jan. 20, 2017). “We note that a claim for workers' compensation benefits must be filed by the injured worker on a particular Board form within two years after the date of the accident (Workers' Compensation Law § 28) and may not be assigned (Workers' Compensation Law § 33).”
Matter of Est. of Youngjohn v. Berry Plastics Corp., 2019 NY Slip Op 1290 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep't 2019). “Workers' Compensation Law § 33 generally provides that where "an injured employee to whom there was due at the time of his or her death any compensation under the provisions of [the Workers' Compensation Law]" dies without leaving a surviving spouse, child under 18 years of age…”
Matter of New York State Off. of Victim Servs. v. Johnson, 232 A.D.3d 967 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep't 2024). “Although workers' compensation benefits, including the settlement funds, are "exempt from all claims of creditors and from levy, execution and attachment or other remedy for recovery or collection of a debt" pursuant to Workers' Compensation Law § 33, the later-enacted Son of…”
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