I honestly can't believe I'm in this situation and I'm not sure what to do. I work for a small construction crew, just a handful of guys, and last month I took a bad fall off some scaffolding. Broke my wrist in two places and my ankle is pretty messed up too. When I told my boss what happened, he told me not to file a workers' comp claim because it would make his insurance rates go up and he'd take care of everything himself. He's been giving me cash under the table to cover my bills, but it's not nearly what I was making and now my landlord is getting on me about being late on rent. My girlfriend is telling me I need to file the claim anyway but I'm scared that if I do, my boss will fire me and I'll have nothing. I've been reading about work accident compensation Saugerties NY and it seems like I have rights here, but I also feel like I'm stuck because he's been good to me over the years and I don't want to burn that bridge. At the same time, I can't keep living on what he's giving me and my medical bills are starting to pile up from the surgery. Has anyone else been in this spot where your employer tries to handle things off the books? How did you handle it without completely ruining your job situation? I'm really torn here and I need to make a decision soon because I can't afford to keep going like this.