New Law Requires New York Employers to Provide Written Notice of Wage Rates
August 11, 2009
Effective October 26, 2009, employers in New York will have to provide employees hired after that date with a written notice of their rate of pay, their overtime rate (for non-exempt employees) and their regular pay date, pursuant to an amendment to Section 195 of the New York Labor Law. The new law, signed by Governor Patterson on July 28, 2009, also requires employers to obtain a written acknowledgement from each newly-hired employee that he or she has received the required information. The acknowledgement must conform to standards set by the Commissioner of Labor. At this point, the Commissioner has not yet set those standards.
Prior to the amendment, employers only had to provide notice of the regular wage rate and pay date, but not in writing, and no written acknowledgement from the employee was required. The purpose of the new law is to enable employees to determine their overtime rate and to ensure that employees understand their regular wage rates and pay dates.
