About Us

The New York State Industrial Board of Appeals  was created by the Legislature in 1975 as an independent review and appeals board charged under the Labor Law with providing an impartial administrative review of the validity or reasonableness of rules, regulations or orders issued by the Commissioner of Labor. The broad review powers of the Board provide the many individuals, businesses and unions in this State who are affected by the Labor Law, with continued exercise of sound and established principles of due process in administrative proceedings.

In addition, pursuant to the Business Corporation Law and the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, the Board is empowered to review and approve, or disapprove, certificates of incorporation and other corporate documents where the powers and purposes of the corporation include labor related activities or where the proposed corporate name may indicate such a purpose.

Board hearings and other functions are conducted on a statewide basis and the Board maintains offices in Albany and New York City.

The Board consists of five (5) members, each appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the New York State Senate, at least one (1) of whom must be an attorney. The Governor designates one (1) member of the Board to serve as Chairperson. 

Mission

It is the mission of the Industrial Board of Appeals to provide all parties a full and fair opportunity to be heard and to render decisions that are based on the record and are legally correct.

Powers and Duties.

The main statutory duty of the Board is to provide an impartial administrative review of the validity or reasonableness of any rule, regulation or order made by the Commissioner of Labor.

The Board's major review activities include:

• Hearing and adjudicating appeals concerning the reasonableness or validity of health and safety standards promulgated by the Commissioner of Labor for public employee safety.
• Hearing and adjudicating petitions for review of compliance orders issued by the Commissioner of Labor to enforce safety and health standards.
• Hearing and adjudicating appeals from decisions of the Commissioner of Labor on variance requests from safety and health standards.
• Hearing and adjudicating petitions for review of compliance, penalty and interest orders issued by the Commissioner of Labor under the various wage provisions of the Labor Law.
• Hearing and adjudicating appeals concerning the reasonableness or validity of minimum wage orders promulgated by the Commissioner of Labor.
• Approval of certificates of incorporation and other corporate instruments where the powers and purposes of the corporation include labor related activities, or the proposed name may tend to imply involvement in labor related activities.

The Board does NOT have jurisdiction in the areas of unemployment insurance, workers' compensation or public works contracts.