Has your employer ever pay you wages without providing you with a pay stub?  If yes, the employer was violating New York State law.

N.Y. Labor Law § 195 states: “Every employer shall: . . . (3) furnish each employee with a statement with every payment of wages, listing the following: the dates of work covered by that payment of wages; name of employee; name of employer; address and phone number of employer; rate or rates of pay and basis thereof, whether paid by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission, or other; gross wages; deductions; allowances, if any, claimed as part of the minimum wage; and net wages.”

Basically, what this law says is that each time you get paid, the employer has to give you a rather detailed pay stub.  You may ask: what happens if the employer does not give me a pay stub or gives me a pay stub that does not have all the required information or has incorrect information?  The New York Department of Labor can investigate the employer for failure to provide proper wage statements.  If the employer can prove that it paid your wages honestly, then the employer will not be punished.

Frequently, however, the wage statement violations occurs together with another violation, for example, failure to pay minimum wage (currently $8 per hour in NY) or failure to pay overtime at 1 ½ of regular rate.  In this case, the department of labor may impose significant penalties on the violating employer.

More pertinent to the employee (you) is that you can sue your employer for the underlying wage violation and for failure to provide wage statements.  The law provides that you may recover $100 for each work week when the employer failed to give you a proper wage statement, up to $2,500 maximum.  And the employer will have to pay your attorney’s fees and costs associated with the litigation.