Increases the threshold for applicability of wage payment protections for certain persons employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, from $900 to $1,300 per week.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A6796
SPONSOR: Burgos
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to increasing the earnings
threshold for the applicability of certain provisions of law relating to
the payment of wages
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To update the.wage limits beyond which executive, administrative, or
professional employees cannot seek help from the Department of Labor in
recovering owed compensation
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends subdivision seven of section 190 of the
Labor Law to amend the definition of.bona fide executive, administra-
tive, or professional employees who are excluded from the ' definition
of "clerical and other worker."
Section two of the bill amends subdivision two of section 192 of the
Labor Law, relating to the cash payment of wages, to amend the defi-
nition of bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employees
excluded from such section.
Section three of the bill amends subdivision three of section 198-c of
the Labor Law, creating a misdemeanor for failure to pay wages within 30
days, to amend the definition of bona fide executive,. administrative,
or professional employees excluded from such section.
Section four sets the effective date.
 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
Click here to enter text.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York's wage theft statute, captured in Article 6 of the Labor Law,
prohibits the unauthorized withholding of wages for all employees in the
state. Aggrieved workers can bring a private action against their
employer within six years of the alleged wage theft (Labor Law §
198(3)), and employers may be liable for civil penalties of $250 a day
for each day that they don't pay, capped at $5,000 (Labor Law §
198(1-d)). Certain lower-income workers, however, have an additional
layer of protection: Labor Law § 191(d) dictates that clerical and other
workers, defined largely as any employee besides an executive, adminis-
trative, or professional one making more than nine hundred dollars a
week, be paid at least twice a month.
Section 198-c of the Labor Law creates a misdemeanor for employers who
fail to pay wages within thirty days but excludes employees making over
$900 a week from its provisions. Additionally, the Department of Labor
(DOL)'s Labor Standards office refuses wage theft claims from executive,
administrative, or professional employees making more than $900 a week,
meaning these victims are left only to fend for themselves in the civil
court system if they wish to be properly compensated for their labor.
DOL's inflexible approach to Article 6 enforcement stands in stark
contrast to what occurs in neighboring states like New Jersey, which
accepts all wage theft claims regardless of salary. New York last
updated its $900-a-week wage theft threshold in Ch. 304 of 2007, when it
declared "(s)ince the last increase in the weekly wage threshold, to
$600 in 1992, the average weekly wage in New York State has increased
considerably. This proposal would increase the weekly wage threshold to
$900, which more accurately reflects the current average weekly wage in
the State. It will also expand the Department's jurisdiction, enabling
the Department to investigate- and recover wages for more individuals."
Nine hundred dollars a week in 2007, or $46,800 a year, would be worth
approximately $1,300 a week, or $67,600 a year, today. This bill updates
the antiquated dollar amount associated with lower-income, more vulner-
able employees to ensure that they are provided the full protections of
Article 6. In an era of sky-high inflation, it is only appropriate that
the legislature seek to ensure that sixteen-year-old monetary thresh-
olds, such as that in Labor.Law § 190(7), are appropriately amended to
reflect our current economic reality.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
TBD
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6796
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 8, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BURGOS -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to increasing the earnings
threshold for the applicability of certain provisions of law relating
to the payment of wages
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 7 of section 190 of the labor law, as amended
2 by chapter 304 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
3 7. "Clerical and other worker" includes all employees not included in
4 subdivisions four, five and six of this section, except any person
5 employed in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capac-
6 ity whose earnings are in excess of [nine] one thousand three hundred
7 dollars a week.
8 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 192 of the labor law as amended by chap-
9 ter 304 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
10 2. This section shall not apply to any person employed in a bona fide
11 executive, administrative, or professional capacity whose earnings are
12 in excess of [nine] one thousand three hundred dollars a week, nor to
13 employees working on a farm not connected with a factory.
14 § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 198-c of the labor law as amended by
15 chapter 304 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
16 3. This section shall not apply to any person in a bona fide execu-
17 tive, administrative, or professional capacity whose earnings are in
18 excess of [nine] one thousand three hundred dollars a week.
19 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
20 it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10062-01-3