# Occupational Loss of Hearing Aggregated by Superinsight from public-domain sources, as of 2026-09-02. Domain: wc/ny. --- ## WKC § 49-AA — Declaration of purpose {#49-AA} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 49-AA* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 49-aa. Declaration of purpose. The compensability of claims for loss of hearing resulting from exposure to industrial noise has created a problem in this state which is a matter of grave concern to the legislature. The legislature, therefore, finds and declares that the public interest can best be served by providing that compensation for occupational loss of hearing shall be paid only as provided in this article and subject to the conditions and limitations hereinafter set forth. --- ## WKC § 49-BB — Waiting period; date of disablement; payment of compensation {#49-BB} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 49-BB* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 49-bb. Waiting period; date of disablement; payment of compensation. Notwithstanding any other inconsistent provisions of this chapter, compensation for occupational loss of hearing shall become due and payable at the employee's choice three months after (1) removal from exposure to harmful noise in employment (removal from exposure to harmful noise in employment for the three month waiting period may be achieved by use of effective ear protection devices provided at the expense of the employer) or (2) separation from work for the last employer in whose employment the employee was at anytime during such employment exposed to harmful noise. The last day of such period of removal from such exposure or of separation from such work shall be the date of disablement. Such disablement shall be treated as the happening of an accident within the meaning of this chapter and the procedure and practice provided in the chapter shall apply to all proceedings as set forth in this article except where specifically otherwise provided herein. A claim for loss of hearing under this article shall not be barred by the failure of the employee or the employee's dependents to file a claim within the two year period prescribed by section twenty-eight of this chapter, provided such claim shall be filed after such two year period within ninety days after knowledge that the loss of hearing is or was due to the nature of the employment. An employee whose disablement and knowledge of disablement occurred prior to October first, nineteen hundred eighty shall have six months from such date to file a claim. The former average wage on which the compensation rate payable shall be based shall be determined, as provided in sections fourteen and fourteen-a of this chapter, by the wages earned by the employee during the year prior to the employee's last day of work in the last employment in which the employee was exposed to harmful noise. --- ## WKC § 49-CC — Right to compensation {#49-CC} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 49-CC* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 49-cc. Right to compensation. If an employee becomes disabled from occupational loss of hearing he shall be entitled to compensation in accordance with the provisions of subdivision three of section fifteen of this chapter. No employee shall in the aggregate receive greater compensation from any or all employers than that provided in subdivision three of section fifteen for total loss of hearing. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph c of subdivision four of section twenty-five of this chapter awards for occupational loss of hearing shall be paid in addition to, and shall not be deducted from, benefits payable to an employee under any welfare plan, pension plan, agreement or trust to which such employee is a party or of which he is a beneficiary. --- ## WKC § 49-DD — Posthumous schedule awards {#49-DD} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 49-DD* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 49-dd. Posthumous schedule awards. If an employee shall die before he shall have been removed from exposure to harmful noise for a period of at least three consecutive months as hereinbefore provided, an award may be made payable in accordance with the provisions of subdivision four of section fifteen of this chapter and such award shall not be barred by the fact that the deceased shall not have been removed from harmful noise for a period of at least three consecutive months. In such case the extent and degree of the employee's occupational loss of hearing, and the award, if any, to be paid for such loss under subdivision three of section fifteen of this chapter, shall be determined upon the submission of proper proof of the occupational loss of hearing sustained by the deceased employee. The date of disablement shall be the date of the employee's death. --- ## WKC § 49-EE — Liability of employer; preplacement examinations and notice to prior employers; apportionment of liability between employers {#49-EE} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 49-EE* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 49-ee. Liability of employer; preplacement examinations and notice to prior employers; apportionment of liability between employers. 1. The last employer in whose employment the employee was exposed to harmful noise shall, except as herein provided, be liable for the payment of the total compensation due the employee for his loss of hearing caused by all of his employments in which he was exposed to harmful noise and the employee shall not be required to give notice to, or to file any claim against, any of his prior employers in whose employment he was exposed to harmful noise. 2. If an employer makes a pre-placement examination which shows that the employee has a pre-existing loss of hearing which may be due to a prior employment or employments in which he was exposed to harmful noise, such employer shall promptly, and in any event within ninety days after such preplacement examination, give notice to the prior employer or employers in writing of the result of such pre-placement examination. Such notice shall advise the prior employer or employers that they may be required, if a claim is filed and an award to the employee is subsequently made, to reimburse the succeeding employer for that portion of the award which was due to the loss caused by their prior employment, provided, however, that no liability shall attach to any prior employer in whose employment the last preceding harmful exposure shall have occurred more than three years prior to the date of mailing such notice to the prior employer or employers, and provided further that in no event shall any employer, including the last employer, be liable for the payment of any claim that would otherwise, and regardless of the date of disablement fixed herein, be barred by any of the limitations contained in sections twenty-eight and forty of this chapter. A copy of this notice shall also be sent to the employee. Upon receipt of such notice the prior employer or employers shall have the right to a competent examination as to the nature and extent of the employee's loss of hearing, and such examination shall not be invalid because the employee has not been removed from harmful exposure for a period of at least three consecutive months. 3. All issues as to the nature and extent of the employee's ultimate loss of hearing due to his occupation, the total amount of compensation, if any, due the employee, the liability for contribution, if any, of the prior employer or employers who were given notice by the last employer as hereinbefore provided, the amount of the contribution, if any, to be paid by such prior employer or employers, and the liability, if any, of the last employer and the amount of compensation, if any, to be paid by such last employer, shall be determined only after the employee shall have been removed from harmful exposure for a period of at least three consecutive months, whether working for one or more employers, and after his disablement as set forth in section forty-nine-bb of this article. If, upon the filing of any claim, the last employer decides to controvert the right to compensation upon any ground he shall file a notice of controversy with the chairman as provided in section twenty-five of this chapter. If, upon the filing of any claim, any prior employer who was given notice as hereinbefore provided decides to controvert the liability for contribution he shall promptly inform the last employer and the workers' compensation board in writing so that such issue may be determined together with, and at the same time as, the employee's claim for compensation against the last employer. If the last employer in whose employment there was an exposure to harmful noise does not give the employee a replacement examination, or does not give notice as provided herein to the prior employer or employers, then such last employer, except as herein provided, shall be liable for the employee's entire occupational loss of hearing without the right to reimbursement from the prior employer or employers. --- ## WKC § 49-FF — Minimum exposure required {#49-FF} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 49-FF* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 49-ff. Minimum exposure required. No employee or his dependents, shall, in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, be entitled to an award for occupational loss of hearing unless the employee shall have been employed in an employment in which he was exposed to harmful noise for a period of at least ninety days in this state. --- ## WKC § 49-GG — Determination of damage risk criteria and standards for the measurement of occupational loss of hearing {#49-GG} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 49-GG* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2018-08-31._ § 49-gg. Determination of damage risk criteria and standards for the measurement of occupational loss of hearing. The chairman of the workers' compensation board is authorized and empowered to, and shall, appoint and consult with a committee or committees of not less than three nor more than nine outstanding expert consultants familiar with the various aspects of the problem of industrial noise and occupational loss of hearing for the purpose of developing their recommendations as to the most reliable and acceptable damage risk criteria and standards for the measurement and determination of occupational loss of hearing. Such recommendations shall include but shall not be limited to the subjects of (a) what industrial noise levels may cause occupational loss of hearing, (b) frequencies to be used in measuring industrial hearing loss, (c) the point below which there is no hearing disability and the point above which the inability to hear shall be deemed total, (d) the use of a monaural or binaural method of computing the percentage loss of hearing, (e) proper deductions for presbycusis and other non-industrial causes of deafness and being hard of hearing, and (f) the number of examinations needed to evaluate industrial hearing loss and the fairest method of determining the loss from the results of successive examinations. The committee or committees of expert consultants so appointed by the chairman shall meet and confer with representatives of the workers' compensation board and with representatives of employers and employees, and shall thereafter report their findings and recommendations to the workers' compensation board. The workers' compensation board, after giving due consideration to such findings and recommendations, is authorized to adopt reasonable rules, not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter including without limitation section forty-nine-hh of this article, and the labor law, prescribing damage risk criteria and standards for the measurement and determination of occupational loss of hearing. Pending the formulation and adoption by the workers' compensation board of such rules, claims for occupational loss of hearing shall be determined upon the basis of the tentative standards and criteria contained in the report, dated December, nineteen hundred fifty-three of the committee appointed by the workers' compensation board and entitled "Report of the Committee of Consultants on Occupational Loss of Hearing." --- ## WKC § 49-HH — Standards {#49-HH} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 49-HH* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 49-hh. Standards. Any standards for the measurement and determination of occupational hearing loss adopted by the board pursuant to section forty-nine-gg of this article shall conform with the standards recommended by the American Academy of Otolarnyngology accepted by the American Medical Association.