S 2081: Removes the requirement that an employer has employed an average of one thousand or more persons in the past three years in order to pay less frequently than weekly, but not less frequently than semi-monthly; provides for damages for violations where the employer paid the employee wages on a regular payday, no less frequently than semi-monthly.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2081 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 15, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COONEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to payments, costs and damages The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph (ii) of paragraph a of subdivision 1 of 2 section 191 of the labor law, as amended by chapter 38 of the laws of 3 1989 and the opening paragraph as amended by chapter 168 of the laws of 4 1993, is amended to read as follows: 5 (ii) The commissioner may authorize an employer [which has in the 6 three years preceding the application employed an average of one thou- 7 sand or more persons in this state or has for one year preceding the 8 application employed an average of one thousand or more persons in this 9 state and has for three years preceding the application employed an 10 average of three thousand or more persons outside the state] to pay less 11 frequently than weekly but not less frequently than semi-monthly if the 12 employer furnishes satisfactory proof to the commissioner of its contin- 13 uing ability to meet its payroll responsibilities. In making this deter- 14 mination the commissioner shall consider the following: (A) the employ- 15 er's history meeting its payroll responsibilities in New York state or 16 if no such history in New York state is available, other financial 17 information, as requested by the commissioner, which will assist the 18 commissioner in determining the likelihood of the employer's continuing 19 ability to meet payroll responsibilities; (B) proof of the employer's 20 coverage for workers' compensation and disability; (C) proof that there 21 are no outstanding warrants of the department of taxation and finance or 22 the department of labor against the employer for failure to remit state 23 personal income tax withholdings or unemployment insurance contrib- 24 utions; and (D) proof that the employer has a computerized record keep- 25 ing system for payroll which, at a minimum, specifies hours worked, rate EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03614-01-5 
 S. 2081 2 1 of pay, gross wages, deductions and date of pay for each employee. If 2 the employers' manual workers are represented by a labor organization, 3 the commissioner shall not grant an employer's application for authori- 4 zation under this subparagraph unless that labor organization consents 5 thereto. 6 § 2. Subdivision 1-a of section 198 of the labor law, as amended by 7 chapter 362 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows: 8 1-a. On behalf of any employee paid less than the wage to which [he or 9 she] such employee is entitled under the provisions of this article, the 10 commissioner may bring any legal action necessary, including administra- 11 tive action, to collect such claim and as part of such legal action, in 12 addition to any other remedies and penalties otherwise available under 13 this article, the commissioner shall assess against the employer the 14 full amount of any such underpayment, and an additional amount as liqui- 15 dated damages, unless the employer proves a good faith basis for believ- 16 ing that its underpayment of wages was in compliance with the law. 17 Liquidated damages shall be calculated by the commissioner as no more 18 than one hundred percent of the total amount of wages found to be due, 19 except such liquidated damages may be up to three hundred percent of the 20 total amount of the wages found to be due for a willful violation of 21 section one hundred ninety-four of this article. Notwithstanding the 22 provisions of this subdivision, liquidated damages shall not be applica- 23 ble to violations of paragraph a of subdivision one of section one 24 hundred ninety-one of this article where the employer paid the employee 25 wages on a regular payday, no less frequently than semi-monthly. Such 26 violations shall be subject to damages as follows: 27 (i) no more than one hundred percent of the lost interest found to be 28 due for the delayed payment of wages calculated using a daily interest 29 rate for each day payment is late based on the annual rate of interest 30 then in effect, as prescribed by the superintendent of financial 31 services pursuant to section fourteen-a of the banking law for the 32 employer's first violation; or 33 (ii) three hundred percent of the lost interest found to be due for 34 the delayed payment of wages calculated using a daily interest rate for 35 each day payment is late based on the annual rate of interest then in 36 effect, as prescribed by the superintendent of financial services pursu- 37 ant to section fourteen-a of the banking law for any employer subject to 38 a previous order issued under section two hundred nineteen of this chap- 39 ter for violations of paragraph a of subdivision one of section one 40 hundred ninety-one of this article for which no proceeding for adminis- 41 trative or judicial review as provided in this chapter is pending and 42 the time for initiation of such proceeding shall have expired and relat- 43 ing to employees performing the same work; or 44 (iii) for a violation occurring after the effective date of the chap- 45 ter of the laws of two thousand twenty-five that amended this subdivi- 46 sion, liquidated damages equal to twenty-five percent of the total 47 amount of the wages found to be paid in violation of paragraph a of 48 subdivision one of section one hundred ninety-one of this article if the 49 employer, after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two 50 thousand twenty-five that amended this subdivision, has been issued two 51 or more separate orders under section two hundred nineteen of this chap- 52 ter for violations of paragraph a of subdivision one of section one 53 hundred ninety-one of this article for which no proceeding for adminis- 54 trative or judicial review as provided in this chapter is pending and 55 the time for initiation of such proceeding shall have expired and relat- 56 ing to employees performing the same work. 
 S. 2081 3 1 For purposes of this section, an order under section two hundred nine- 2 teen of this chapter shall constitute a single order regardless of the 3 number of employees or the time period that was subject to such order. 4 In any action instituted in the courts upon a wage claim by an employee 5 or the commissioner in which the employee prevails, the court shall 6 allow such employee to recover the full amount of any underpayment, all 7 reasonable attorney's fees, prejudgment interest as required under the 8 civil practice law and rules, and, unless the employer proves a good 9 faith basis to believe that its underpayment of wages was in compliance 10 with the law, an additional amount as liquidated damages equal to one 11 hundred percent of the total amount of the wages found to be due, except 12 such liquidated damages may be up to three hundred percent of the total 13 amount of the wages found to be due for a willful violation of section 14 one hundred ninety-four of this article. 15 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to causes 16 of action pending or commenced on or after such effective date.