Wage Theft Prevention Act Annual Notice Deadline

The Wage Theft Prevention Act is a new Act that went into effect April of 2011.  The Act gives greater protection to workers, and makes changes in the way they are notified of their pay rates and receive wage statements.  Pursuant to the Act, beginning in 2012, all New York employers must provide an annual pay notice to all employees (exempt and non-exempt) who work in New York (they must also do so upon hire).  The annual notice must be provided to employees between January 1st and February 1st of each year.  The notice must include the following information:

• Dates of work covered;

• Employer’s address and phone number;

• The rate of pay and the manner in which it is paid (hourly, salary, commission, etc.)

• Gross wages; net wages;

• Deductions;

• Allowances against minimum wage; and

• For non-exempt employees, the regular rate, overtime rate, and the number of regular and overtime hours worked.

The notices may be provided to employees electronically, as long as employees can acknowledge receipt and print the notice. A copy of the notice must be maintained by employers for six years.

Under the law, employers can be assessed a penalty of $50 per week per employee if proper notice is not given (employees have a separate cause of action up to $2,500).

The New York State Department of Labor provides FAQs that contain further information and can be found at:

http://www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/PDFs/wage-theft-prevention-act-faq.pdf