Last weeks, New York state assembly passed a bill that amends certain sections of the Wage Theft Act enacted in 2010.  Most of the provisions are pro-employee.  In fact, the purpose of the bill according to the assembly is “to provide additional protections for employees against wage theft.”  The bill will come into effect 60 days after the governor signs it into law.

Some sections of the bill address employee’s right to recover in court for certain violations associated with employer’s wage theft; others relate to increased powers of the NY Department of Labor to investigate and enforce labor laws.  The following chart provides a quick outline of the changes related to employees’ private right to sue their employers for wage-related violations.

Current Law Passed Amendment
The employer has to provide an employee a notice setting forth the terms of the employee’s compensation within 10 days of hiring and every year after that. The employer no longer has an annual notice requirement if the notice is provided in another manner.
Failure to provide the notice as set forth above entitles the employee to recover $50 penalty for each week the violation occurs up to a total maximum of $2,500 together with costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. Failure to provide the notice as set forth above entitles the employee to recover $50 penalty for each day the violation occurs up to a total maximum of $5,000 together with costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
Failure to provide a paystub entitles the employee to recover $100 penalty for each week the violation occurs up to a total maximum of $2,500 together with costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. Failure to provide a paystub entitles the employee to recover $250 penalty for each day the violation occurs up to a total maximum of $5,000 together with costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
The law permitted an employee to hold ten largest shareholders of a corporation personally liable for wage underpayment.  There was no counterpart for limited liability companies (LLC). The amendment addresses this loophole and entitles employees to hold personally liable the ten members with the largest percentage ownership in an LLC

There are additional amendments that relate to the functions of the NY Labor Department as they relate to the enforcement of wage laws, but they are beyond the scope of this post.