Bill Text: NY S06077 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
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 (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO LABOR [S06077 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S06077-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6077 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 28, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MURRAY -- 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 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. LBD10496-01-3S. 6077 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.
