Dec 17, 2014

Wage Theft Prevention Act employee notices must be distributed by Feb. 1, 2015

Employers with employees in New York are required to issue annual notices under the Wage Theft Prevention Act to all New York employees between Jan. 1 and Feb. 1, 2015. There is a bill (A.8106-C Heastie/S.5885-B Savino) that passed both houses of the state Legislature, which would strike the annual notice requirement from the Wage Theft Prevention Act when the same information is provided in another manner. It has not yet been signed into law by the governor.

The New York State Department of Labor released sample notification templates and related information to assist New York employers in complying with the act.

The department issued notification templates for the following groups of employees:

a)    hourly rate employees;

b)    multiple hourly rate employees;

c)    employees paid a weekly rate or a salary for a fixed number of hours (40 or fewer in a week);

d)    employees paid a salary for varying hours, day rate, piece rate, flat rate or other nonhourly basis;

e)    prevailing rate and other jobs; and

f)    exempt employees.

The department also issued Guidelines for written notice of rates of pay and regular payday, as well as instructions related to the templates.

Finally, the department issued a document entitled, Frequently Asked Questions About the Wage Theft Prevention Act, which provides answers to many common questions employers have about the act, along with a fact sheet.
The Wage Theft Prevention Act

The Wage Theft Prevention Act, which originally was signed into law in December 2010, increases penalties for the failure of employers to pay statutorily mandated minimum wage and overtime. It requires and expands annual notifications of wages; increases penalties for wage-law violations; and strengthens whistleblower protections. The legislation enacts a broad series of measures to provide information to workers on the wages they are owed, and to increase the sanctions for those who fail to comply with wage and hour laws.

The law:

         enacts more stringent and transparent record-keeping and employee notification requirements;

         increases the amount of wages that can be recovered as damages in a suit for nonpayment over and above the lost wages themselves from 25 percent to 100 percent, the amount allowable under federal law;

         creates stronger collection tools;

         raises criminal penalties for failure to pay minimum wage to up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine; and

         strengthens protections for whistleblowers in cases involving wage violations.

Since the bill (A.8106-C Heastie/S.5885-B Savino) has not yet been signed by the governor, New York state employers will be required to issue annual notices under the Wage Theft Prevention Act to all New York employees between Jan. 1 and Feb. 1, 2015.

PIA will continue to keep you apprised of the status of this legislation when it is considered by the governor. If you have additional staff who you would like to receive these types of business-related alerts, be sure to send their names and email addresses to publications@pia.org.