State Senate Adopts Legislation Co-Sponsored by Senator Nozzolio to Repeal Job-Killing Wage Notice Mandate

Continuing his commitment to cut bureaucratic State regulations that impede job growth, State Senator Mike Nozzolio today announced that the Senate has adopted legislation (S.6063-A) he co-sponsored to remove an onerous wage reporting mandate that has cost private sector job creators millions and made our State less competitive.

The so-called “Wage Theft Prevention Act” requires that private sector employers have every employee read and sign documents once a year explaining the pay they receive, even though the same information is available on pay stubs and in the businesses’ own records.

“This regulation represents  a costly, repetitive and completely unnecessary mandate from the State that runs completely counter to the job creation efforts we have worked hard with Governor Cuomo to implement,” said Senator Nozzolio. “While well-intentioned, the Wage Theft Prevention mandate has done little to improve compliance with State wage laws, only to drive jobs and economic growth out of New York and burden struggling small businesses with gratuitous administrative costs and paperwork.”

Senator Nozzolio strongly opposed and voted against the Wage Theft Prevention mandate when it was forced through the Legislature in 2010 by the New York City legislators who at the time completely controlled New York State government. A number of pro-jobs organizations across the State have strongly supported repealing the reporting requirements, including Unshackle Upstate, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Business Council of New York.

The Wage Theft Prevention Act applies indiscriminately to every private sector employer in New York, even though the State Department of Labor has reported that the vast majority of businesses already comply with State wage laws. Many employers already provided workers with wage statements, but were still forced to incur thousands of dollars in administrative expenses to comply with the State requirements. In addition, employers face harsh penalties under the law if they don’t keep the paperwork on file for six years.

“The Wage Theft Prevention Act is a perfect example of the kind of bureaucratic red tape that, for too long, contributed to New York having one of the worst business climates in the Nation. I am now urging the members of the State Assembly to join my Senate colleagues and I in repealing this misguided job-killing regulation once and for all,” said Senator Nozzolio.