A report that looked at data from the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board found that in many instances, injured workers who do not speak English proficiently were not given resources they needed.

“Compensation Not Open to Interpretation: Language Access in New York State Workers’ Compensation Hearings” is the result of observations of around 500 Workers’ Compensation Board hearings in 2016. Members of the Worker Protection Coalition, which is comprised of union officials, worker advocacy groups, injured workers, legal experts and other community organizations, observed the hearings. Primary authors of the study were Leah Lotto and Katie Deabler of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ). Other participants involved included members of Make the Road New York, MFY Legal Services and the New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health.

In 18 percent of hearings the worker required interpretation services. In more than forty percent of hearings where a worker required interpretation, they found that the WCB failed to provide any interpretation services.

They found that when the board does provide interpretation it does not last for the full length of the hearing, only for portions of the hearing. They did not see a hearing where interpretive services were provided for the entire proceeding.

The services are also done using poor-quality telephones and may not be adequate for workers because interpreters may not be familiar with workers’ compensation terminology and may make errors that do not get corrected on the record.

Authors of the report recommend that the state take action to correct this and improve translation services to injured workers. Some of the recommendations include using in-person interpretation and asking if the worker requires interpretation at the start of every hearing. They also recommend codifying Executive Order 26 in the Workers’ Compensation Law which would strengthen protections requiring state agencies to provide interpretation. They estimate that 13 percent of New York residents do not speak proficient English, and half of New York City residents speak a language outside of English at home.

The authors point to the fact that limited English speaking workers tend to work in more physically dangerous yet lower-paying jobs than fluent English speakers, and may be at a greater risk of injury and loss of earnings. These hearings may be difficult for even a fluent English speaker to understand, and it is important that those who need interpretive services get adequate interpretation.

Read the report here.