New York Labor and Employment Law Report
NYSDOL Publishes Final Wage Deductions Regulations Under Labor Law Section 193
October 9, 2013
By: Andrew D. Bobrek
The New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) just published final regulations on its website, governing employee wage deductions under Section 193 of the Labor Law. According to NYSDOL, the final Section 193 regulations are effective today – October 9, 2013 – and will be codified at and replace the existing 12 N.Y.C.R.R. Part 195. As we previously reported, these regulations were published in draft form earlier this year and made available for public comment. The final regulations contain only minimal changes from this earlier draft version. Most notably, the final Section 193 regulations retain and set forth detailed procedures which employers must follow when seeking to recover wage overpayments and advances by payroll deduction. As the Section 193 regulations are now in force and effective, it is imperative that employers establish and implement the correct procedures before attempting to recover overpayments and advances by payroll deduction. An employer’s failure to follow these mandatory procedures will create a presumption that the deductions were illegal. Among other things, the final regulations also list specific prohibited deductions, impose precise requirements for obtaining proper “authorization” from employees, and provide guidance on what types of deductions may be deemed permissible “similar payments for the benefit of the employee.” We will be following up soon with more detailed guidance on these and other issues under the final Section 193 regulations, and encourage you to check back for an updated post.