BILL NUMBER: S5572

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to increasing the earnings
threshold for the applicability of certain provisions of law relating to
the payment of wages

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To update the wage limits beyond which executive, administrative, or
professional employees cannot seek help from the Department of Labor in
recovering owed compensation

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends subdivision seven of section 190 of the
Labor Law to amend the definition of bona fide executive, administra-
tive, or professional employees who are excluded from the definition of
"clerical and other worker."

              

Section two of the bill amends subdivision two of section 192 of the
Labor Law, relating to the cash payment of wages, to amend the defi-
nition of bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employees
excluded from such section.

Section three of the bill amends subdivision three of section 198-c of
the Labor Law, creating a misdemeanor for failure to pay wages within 30
days, to amend the definition of bona fide executive, administrative, or
professional employees excluded from such section.

Section four sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York's wage theft statute, captured in Article 6 of the Labor Law,
prohibits the unauthorized withholding of wages for all employees in the
state. Aggrieved workers can bring a private action against their
employer within six years of the alleged wage theft (Labor Law §
198(3)), and employers may be liable for civil penalties of $250 a day
for each day that they don't pay, capped at $5,000 (Labor Law §
198(1-d)). Certain lower-income workers, however, have an additional
layer of protection:  Labor Law § 191(d) dictates that clerical and
other workers, defined largely as any employee besides an executive,
administrative, or professional one making more than nine hundred
dollars a week, be paid at least twice a month. Section 198-c of the
Labor Law creates a misdemeanor for employers who fail to pay wages
within thirty days but excludes employees making over $900 a week from
its provisions.  Additionally, the Department of Labor (DOL)'s Labor
Standards office refuses wage theft claims from executive, administra-
tive, or professional employees making more than $900 a week, meaning
these victims are left only to fend for themselves in the civil court
system if they wish to be properly compensated for their labor.

DOL's inflexible approach to Article 6 enforcement stands in stark
contrast to what occurs in neighboring states like New Jersey, which
accepts all wage theft claims regardless of salary. New York last
updated its $900-a-week wage theft threshold in Ch. 304 of 2007, when it
declared "(s)ince the last increase in the weekly wage threshold, to
$600 in 1992, the average weekly wage in New York State has increased
considerably. This proposal would increase the weekly wage threshold to
$900, which more accurately reflects the current average weekly wage in
the State. It will also expand the Department's jurisdiction, enabling
the Department to investigate and recover wages for more individuals"

Nine hundred dollars a week in 2007, or $46,800 a year, would be worth
approximately $1,300 a week, or $67,600 a year, today. This bill updates
the antiquated dollar amount associated with lower-income, more vulner-
able employees to ensure that they are provided the full protections of
Article 6. In an era of sky-high inflation, it is only appropriate that
the legislature seek to ensure that sixteen-year-old monetary thresh-
olds, such as that in Labor Law § 190(7), are appropriately amended to
reflect our current economic reality.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.