An employee’s right to compensation under New York’s Workers’ Compensation law is the sole remedy available against their employer for work-related injuries. An employee may have more than one employer for purposes of workers' compensation – a general employer and a special employer. The general employer is the employee’s primary employer and is responsible for hiring and providing wages and benefits.

The special employer is a secondary employer to whom the employee is assigned temporarily or on a project-by-project basis. An example of this type of employment is where an employee works for a temporary staffing agency (the general employer) and is contracted to work at a manufacturing plant for one year (the special employer). When such a relationship exists and the employee elects to receive workers' compensation benefits from their general employer, the special employer is shielded from any personal injury action at law commenced by the employee.