Bill Text: NY A07485 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to wage claims for manual workers; establishes an exception is provided from certain legal relief for instances of when payment is made within fourteen calendar days after the end of the week in which the wages were earned.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to labor [A07485 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A07485-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          7485

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 25, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Labor

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the labor law, in relation to wage claims for manual
          workers

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 1-a of section 198 of the labor law, as amended
     2  by chapter 362 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
     3    1-a.  On behalf of any employee paid less than the wage to which he or
     4  she is entitled under the provisions of this article,  the  commissioner
     5  may  bring  any legal action necessary, including administrative action,
     6  to collect such claim and as part of such legal action, in  addition  to
     7  any other remedies and penalties otherwise available under this article,
     8  the  commissioner  shall  assess against the employer the full amount of
     9  any such underpayment, and an additional amount as  liquidated  damages,
    10  unless  the  employer  proves  a good faith basis for believing that its
    11  underpayment of wages was in compliance with the law, provided, however,
    12  that the provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to  a  violation
    13  of  paragraph  a of subdivision one of section one hundred ninety-one of
    14  this article, provided that the employer had made full payment of  wages
    15  within  fourteen  calendar  days  after the end of the week in which the
    16  wages were earned, except in instances where an employer was subject  to
    17  a  commissioner's  order issued pursuant to section two hundred eighteen
    18  of this chapter to comply with section one hundred  ninety-one  of  this
    19  article.  Liquidated  damages shall be calculated by the commissioner as
    20  no more than one hundred percent of the total amount of wages  found  to
    21  be  due,  except  such  liquidated  damages  may  be up to three hundred
    22  percent of the total amount of the wages found to be due for  a  willful
    23  violation  of  section  one  hundred ninety-four of this article. In any
    24  action instituted in the courts upon a wage claim by an employee or  the
    25  commissioner  in which the employee prevails, the court shall allow such

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10496-01-3
        A. 7485                             2

     1  employee to recover the full amount of any underpayment, all  reasonable
     2  attorney's  fees, prejudgment interest as required under the civil prac-
     3  tice law and rules, and, unless the employer proves a good  faith  basis
     4  to  believe  that  its  underpayment of wages was in compliance with the
     5  law, an additional amount as liquidated damages  equal  to  one  hundred
     6  percent  of  the  total amount of the wages found to be due, except such
     7  liquidated damages may be up to  three  hundred  percent  of  the  total
     8  amount  of  the wages found to be due for a willful violation of section
     9  one hundred ninety-four of this article.
    10    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.