It is time once again for employer’s with New York-based workers or employees that regularly work in New York to get their annual notices under New York State’s Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA) done. Non-compliance with this law could lead to the assessment of substantial penalties by the New York Department of Labor on a per-worker basis.
The WTPA, which was passed in 2010 and became effective in April 2011, requires employers to provide each of their New York workers (including typically exempt or salaried employees like executives, managers and supervisors) with an annual Notice of Pay Rate between January 1 and February 1 of each year. The notice, which can be given electronically, must be in the employee’s primary language as identified by them and is required even if the individual’s pay rate has not changed. It also applies to workers covered by a union contract.
In addition to the annual requirement, a new notice must also be provided to all new hires as a stand-alone document and to existing employees if there is a decrease in pay or where information on a prior notice changes. Employers need to obtain a signed acknowledgment from each employee receiving the notice and retain the signed copy for six years.
For more information feel free to contact us or peruse the New York State Department of Labor’s Website (which has some sample forms): http://www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/employer/wage-theft-prevention-act.shtm