NY State Senate Bill 2019-S1760

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 26, 2020	recommit, enacting clause stricken
Jan 08, 2020	referred to labor
Jan 16, 2019	referred to labor

co-Sponsors

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2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A1240
Law Section:: Labor Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§652 & 653, Lab L
Versions Introduced in 2017-2018 Legislative Session:: S4405, A6203

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the minimum wage for certain employees who are food service workers or service employees receiving tips and paid in accordance with Part 146 of Title 12 of the NYCRR.

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1760

SPONSOR: RAMOS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the minimum wage

  
PURPOSE:

To eliminate the sub-minimum wage for food service workers and service
employees who receive tips

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of this bill amends Subdivisions 2 and 4 of section 652 of
the Labor Law to provide that the hourly cash wage for food service
workers and service employees who receive tips shall be no less than the
cash wage for all other workers under Section 652 of the Labor Law, and
the underlying minimum wage orders shall be adjusted to reflect such
change.

It further provides that food service workers and service employees who
receive tips covered under pre-existing administrative regulations would
see an increase in the minimum wage rate, increasing to $15/hr by the
end of 2023 in New York City and the three suburban counties (Nassau,
Suffolk and Westchester), and $12.50/hr by the end of 2023 in the rest
of the state with future increases to $15/hr set by administrative
implementation. Once fully implemented, the tipped worker minimum wage
would be identical to the minimum wage for all other workers in 2021 and
beyond.

Section two amends Subdivision 2 of section 653 of the Labor Law as
added by chapter 14 of the Laws of 2000 related to food service worker
wage orders to provide that a wage order under this subdivision shall
not authorize a wage less than the previously and statutorily authorized
minimum wage.

Section 3 provides that the act shall take effect immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

For many years, employers of food service employees have been provided
with a credit that reduces the hourly minimum wage paid to employees
receiving gratuities. These employers now pay $7.50 per hour to workers,
so long as workers receive on average the difference between their
reduced minimum wage and the statutory minimum wage in tips.

Allowing for the tip credit has created many inequities in food service
work. Employees who are not made whole by gratuities face arduous legal
processes to recover their owed wages, involving complicated record-
keeping and inadequate legal remedies.  Reliance on tips has also
created an environment where workers are victimized, and in some cases,
encouraged to turn a blind eye, to rampant discrimination and sexual
harass- ment by clientele and managers. This results in annual restau-
rant employee sexual harassment claims to the EEOC at five times the
rate of other industries.

Eight states (Alaska, California, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada,
Oregon, and Washington) have eliminated the tipped credit and required
employers to pay the full minimum wage to employees. Those states have
seen growth in the restaurant industry and a more equitable and experi-
enced work force.

New York's two-tiered wage system presents challenges for employers as
well as workers. Unlike many other laws, wage and hour laws put the onus
on employers to keep accurate records and follow the law, which take up
large amounts of time and money in monitoring compliance.  This includes
the '80-20 Rule' where employers are supposed to ensure that tipped
workers perform no more than 20 percent of work that is not related to
direct service. Maintaining the necessary records and compliance of a
two-tiered wage system expose employers to additional liability.

In short, it is time for New York to join other states and improve the
working conditions in the restaurant industry by eliminating the sub-mi-
nimum wage. Employers would not be prohibited from allowing for restau-
rant gratuities, but gratuities would no longer make up the difference
between wages received from the restaurant and the actual minimum wage.

Providing equity and fairness to restaurant workers would help reduce
the wage gap and bring New York in line with many of its sister states
in workers' rights and fairness on the job.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-2018-S.4405-A Referred to Labor Committee

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1760
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 16, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RAMOS  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
 
 AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to the minimum wage
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Subdivision 2 of section 652 of the labor law, as amended
 by chapter 38 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
   2. Existing wage orders. The minimum wage  orders  in  effect  on  the
 effective date of this act shall remain in full force and effect, except
 as modified in accordance with the provisions of this article.
   Such  minimum  wage  orders  shall  be modified by the commissioner to
 increase all monetary amounts specified therein in the  same  proportion
 as  the  increase  in the hourly minimum wage as provided in subdivision
 one of this section, including the amounts  specified  in  such  minimum
 wage  orders  as  allowances  for  gratuities, and when furnished by the
 employer to its employees, for meals, lodging, apparel  and  other  such
 items,  services  and  facilities,  EXCEPT THAT THE HOURLY CASH WAGE FOR
 FOOD SERVICE WORKERS AND SERVICE EMPLOYEES WHO RECEIVE TIPS SHALL NOT BE
 LESS THAN THE CASH WAGE AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION FOUR OF THIS  SECTION
 AND THE MAXIMUM CREDIT FOR TIPS IN MINIMUM WAGE ORDERS SHALL BE MODIFIED
 SO  THAT SUCH CREDIT, WHEN COMBINED WITH THIS CASH WAGE, IS EQUAL TO THE
 MINIMUM WAGE. All amounts so modified shall be rounded off to the  near-
 est  five cents. The modified orders shall be promulgated by the commis-
 sioner without a public hearing, and without reference to a wage  board,
 and  shall  become  effective on the effective date of such increases in
 the minimum wage except  as  otherwise  provided  in  this  subdivision,
 notwithstanding any other provision of this article.
   §  2.  Subdivision  4  of  section 652 of the labor law, as amended by
 section 2 of part K of chapter 54 of the laws of  2016,  is  amended  to
 read as follows:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04774-01-9

 S. 1760                             2
 
   4.  Notwithstanding subdivisions one and two of this section, the wage
 for an employee who is a food service worker receiving tips shall  be  a
 cash  wage of at least two-thirds of the minimum wage rates set forth in
 subdivision one of this section, rounded to the nearest  five  cents  or
 seven  dollars  and  fifty cents, whichever is higher, provided that the
 tips of such an employee, when added to such cash wage, are equal to  or
 exceed  the  minimum  wage in effect pursuant to subdivision one of this
 section and provided further that no  other  cash  wage  is  established
 pursuant to section six hundred fifty-three of this article, EXCEPT THAT
 ANY CASH WAGE ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO SECTION SIX HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE OF
 THIS  ARTICLE  SHALL  NOT BE LESS THAN THE CASH WAGE ESTABLISHED BY THIS
 SUBDIVISION.
   (A) NOTWITHSTANDING SUBDIVISIONS ONE  AND  TWO  OF  THIS  SECTION  AND
 SECTION SIX HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE OF THIS ARTICLE, THE WAGE FOR AN EMPLOY-
 EE  WHO  IS A FOOD SERVICE WORKER OR SERVICE EMPLOYEE RECEIVING TIPS AND
 PAID IN ACCORDANCE WITH PART 146 OF TITLE  12  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE
 COMPILATION  OF  CODES,  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS SHALL BE, FOR EACH HOUR
 WORKED IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, A CASH WAGE OF NOT LESS THAN:
   $9.00 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2019;
   $10.50 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2020;
   $12.00 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2021;
   $13.50 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2022;
   $15.00 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2023.
 BEGINNING ON DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR,  THE  CASH
 WAGE PAYABLE TO A FOOD SERVICE WORKER OR SERVICE WORKER UNDER THIS PARA-
 GRAPH  SHALL BE NOT LESS THAN THE WAGE ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH
 (A) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION.
   (B) NOTWITHSTANDING SUBDIVISIONS ONE  AND  TWO  OF  THIS  SECTION  AND
 SECTION SIX HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE OF THIS ARTICLE, THE WAGE FOR AN EMPLOY-
 EE  WHO  IS A FOOD SERVICE WORKER OR SERVICE EMPLOYEE RECEIVING TIPS AND
 PAID IN ACCORDANCE WITH PART 146 OF TITLE  12  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE
 COMPILATION  OF  CODES,  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS SHALL BE, FOR EACH HOUR
 WORKED IN THE COUNTIES OF NASSAU, SUFFOLK AND WESTCHESTER, A  CASH  WAGE
 OF NOT LESS THAN:
   $8.00 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2019;
   $9.50 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2020;
   $11.00 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2021;
   $13.00 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2022;
   $15.00 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2023.
 BEGINNING  ON  DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR, THE CASH
 WAGE PAYABLE TO A FOOD SERVICE WORKER OR SERVICE WORKER UNDER THIS PARA-
 GRAPH SHALL BE NOT LESS THAN THE WAGE ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO  PARAGRAPH
 (B) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION.
   (C)  NOTWITHSTANDING  SUBDIVISIONS  ONE  AND  TWO  OF THIS SECTION AND
 SECTION SIX HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE OF THIS ARTICLE, THE WAGE FOR AN EMPLOY-
 EE WHO IS A FOOD SERVICE WORKER OR SERVICE EMPLOYEE RECEIVING  TIPS  AND
 PAID  IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH  PART  146  OF TITLE 12 OF THE NEW YORK STATE
 COMPILATION OF CODES, RULES AND REGULATIONS  SHALL  BE,  FOR  EACH  HOUR
 WORKED  OUTSIDE THE CITY OF NEW YORK AND THE COUNTIES OF NASSAU, SUFFOLK
 AND WESTCHESTER, A CASH WAGE OF NOT LESS THAN:
   $8.00 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2019;
   $9.25 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2020;
   $10.50 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2021;
   $11.50 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2022;
   $12.50 PER HOUR ON AND AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2023.

 S. 1760                             3
 
 BEGINNING ON DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR,  THE  CASH
 WAGE PAYABLE TO A FOOD SERVICE WORKER OR SERVICE WORKER UNDER THIS PARA-
 GRAPH  SHALL BE NOT LESS THAN THE WAGE ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH
 (C) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION.
   §  3. Subdivision 2 of section 653 of the labor law, as added by chap-
 ter 14 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
   (2) The commissioner shall, within six months after enactment  of  any
 change  in  the  statutory  minimum wage set forth in subdivision one of
 section six hundred fifty-two of this article, appoint a wage  board  to
 inquire  and  report  and recommend any changes to wage orders governing
 wages payable to food service workers. Such wage board shall  be  estab-
 lished  consistent with the provisions of subdivision one of section six
 hundred fifty-five of this article, except the  representatives  of  the
 employees  shall  be  selected upon the nomination of the state American
 Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations; and  provided,
 further,  that  the  representatives  of the employers shall be selected
 upon the nomination of the New York State Business  Council.  [Any  wage
 order  authorizing  a  lesser  wage  than the previously and statutorily
 mandated minimum wage for such employees shall be reviewed by  the  wage
 board  to  ascertain  at  what  level  such  wage order is sufficient to
 provide adequate maintenance and to protect the health and livelihood of
 employees subject to such a wage order after a statutory increase in the
 mandated minimum wage.] NOTWITHSTANDING SECTION SIX  HUNDRED  FIFTY-FIVE
 OF THIS ARTICLE, A WAGE ORDER UNDER THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL NOT AUTHORIZE
 A  LESSER WAGE THAN THE PREVIOUSLY AND STATUTORILY MANDATED MINIMUM WAGE
 FOR SUCH EMPLOYEES.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S1760

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

co-Sponsors

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S1760

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Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

co-Sponsors

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S1760 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments