The New York State Workers’ Compensation Law provides for final adjustment of finger injuries between six months and a year post injury and/or surgery.
The difficulty with finger injuries is that the schedule loss of use award often does not adequately compensate the injured worker. The law contains a maximum number of weeks that is payable under a schedule loss of use award for each finger. For instances, a 100% loss of the thumb translates to a total of 75 weeks of compensation. 100% loss of the pinky finger translates to only 15 weeks of compensation. This, in essence, can mean that someone who has lost his or her entire pinky finger do to a work related injury may be limited to a total of 15 weeks lost time. The compensation law provides for absolutely no pain and suffering award. Therefore, someone who makes $600.00 per week and has a 100% loss of his or her pinky finger will likely receive a maximum lost wage payment of $6,000.00. This is a travesty but a reality.
There are certain circumstances where finger injuries can translate into classifiable conditions; but that is the exception not the rule.