NYS Employer Alert

The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) now requires that all New York employers provide each employee with a written notification of their regular and overtime hourly wages by February 1, 2012 and, obtain a written acknowledgement of receipt from each employee.  Employers can be assessed penalties up to $50 per week per employee by the NYSDOL if proper notice is not given.  In addition, employees can sue employers on their own for not receiving a proper wage notice.  Damages are limited to $2,500 per employee, plus attorney fees.

There are no exclusions or exemptions from the notice requirements.  Professionals, executives, administrators and others exempt from state overtime requirements must still receive a notice.  The requirement also applies to workers covered by union contracts.

The notice includes: 

1. Rates of regular and, if applicable, overtime pay,
2. How the employee is paid (by the hour, shift, day, week, commission, etc.),
3. Regular payday, (pay period),
4. Employer's official name and any DBA names,
5. Employer's principal address and telephone number and
6. Allowances taken as part of the minimum wage (tips, meal and lodging deductions).

The notice must be given in English and in the employee's primary language if the NYSDOL offers a translation.  Translations are currently available in Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Polish and Russian.  The employer may use its own notice provided it contains all the information listed above, or it may use one of the NYSDOL's many templates available at their web site (www.labor.ny.gov).  A copy of one template is attached.  There are separate versions for hourly rate employees, employees who receive more than one rate of pay for different shifts, weekly, non hourly (piece rate workers, temporary help firms and overtime-exempt employees). 

For new employees, the notice may be part of the package of materials they receive upon hire, but must be on a separate sheet of paper to facilitate its being signed and returned to the employer.  In addition to providing the notice to new hires and to all workers by February 1^st, employers must provide a notice seven days prior to any change of the information provided in the notice, unless notice of the change appears in the employee's regular wage statement.

Immediate action must be taken to insure the required wage notice is given to all employees by February 1, 2012.  If you have any questions, please call us at 212 644-9000.