Last year, effective for 2012, New York State enacted the “Wage Theft Protection Act”, amending wage notice requirements and establishing penalties for failing to comply with the new rules. The Act expands on ways workers must be notified of wages through wage statements while creating additional protections for workers against retaliation for expressing concerns about working conditions.
Wage Notice Requirements
Starting with 2012, the Act requires that employees must be given a pay notice between January 1 and February 1 of each year or at any time a worker’s wages change. If an employee is hired after February 1, he or she must still be given notice upon hire as well as the annual notice with other employees.
Notices must provide the following information: An employee’s wage, including the rate of wage including the hour, shift, day, week, salary and frequency of payment. Additionally, the notice must include allowances and whether or not allowances are included in pay, for example tips, meals and other accommodations. Lastly, the employer’s name, address, telephone number and other reasonably appropriate information must be included in notices.
The Act’s notice requirements apply to workers in the private sector as well as charter schools, private schools, and non-profit corporations; however, federal, state and local government workers are not covered by the Act. And to be clear, the Act makes no distinction among types of workers – professionals, executives and administrators are not exempt or excluded from the Act’s notice rights. Notices must be provided in English as well as an employee’s primary language. Notices may be given electronically, though the employee must have a way to print the document for his or her personal records. Lastly, the employer must also keep records of the notice for up to six years.
Protections Against Retaliation
The Act addresses what constitutes retaliation as well as penalties for retaliation, which the Act defines as “any action which negatively affects workers … because a worker has engaged in a protected activity.” Retaliation includes any penalty brought upon an employee for expressing concern over working conditions. Reducing shifts or wages or termination of employment are obvious examples of workplace retaliation. The Act also provides protection from threats of retaliation or discrimination, not just actual retaliation or discrimination.
The Act specifies certain protected employee activities, including employee rights to submit complaints about working conditions to employers without being subject to retaliation. As one commentator has correctly noted, the Act protects employees that make complaints about wages r working conditions, and does not require that a complaint “make specific reference to the Labor Law [nor] be made to any particular person.”
An employer accused of retaliation will be entitled to an opportunity to defend itself; if the complaint is confirmed, an employer can be fined up to $10,000 and an additional $10,000 for damages. The Act allows for reinstatement of employees terminated in retaliation for protected activities, in addition to payment for lost wages.
NLRA Comparison
New York State’s protections may be viewed together with similar protections under the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRA provides that companies that meet a certain revenue threshold may not retaliate or discriminate against employees seeking to organize unions and collectively bargain over working conditions or wages. Protected employee activities include strikes, picketing, walkouts, complaints, petitions, or “other concerted activities”, where “concerted” is typically understood as an activity with two or more members of a group participating. As long as an employee is acting in accordance with at least one other employee in a concerted activity, he or she is protected against retaliation or discrimination under the NLRA. Therefore, like the NLRA, New York State’s Wage Theft Protection Act lawfully protects concerted activities of employees with the assurance of penalties for acts of retaliation.
Add Comment