As we reported earlier this year ( Newly Signed New York Law Greatly Enhances Penalties for Employer Wage Law Violations), the New York Wage Theft Prevention Act ("WTPA"), which became effective in April 2011, provides increased obligations and enhanced penalties for employers relating to employee pay practices. Among other things, the WTPA requires employers to provide a written notice to all employees between January 1 and February 1 each year, beginning in 2012. The notice must include information regarding the employee's rate(s) of pay including overtime rate of pay if applicable, the basis of wage payment (e.g. per hour, per shift, per week, piece rate, etc.), allowances to be claimed as part of the minimum wage if applicable (i.e., tip, meal, and lodging), how the employee's pay is calculated, the regular payday, the full name of the employer and any "doing business as" names used by the employer, and the address and telephone number of the employer's main office or principal location.
The notices, which must be provided to both exempt and non-exempt employees, must be given in English and in the employee's primary language if the New York State Department of Labor has provided notice templates for that language. Currently notice templates are available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Polish, Russian and Haitian Creole. Employers must provide a copy of the notice to the employee, have each employee sign and date the notice, and maintain all notices and acknowledgements for six years. Employers who fail to provide the required notices may be liable for damages of up to $50 per week, per employee.
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