3 Changes to New York Labor Laws Included in the Latest State Budget

When it comes to labor rules and protections the state s latest billion budget is a mixed bag for blue-collar New Yorkers advocates reported The latest state budget includes changes to pay frequency rules for manual workers as well as wage theft enforcement Photo by Demetrius Freeman Mayoral Photography Office The billion New York State budget passed last month included several measures to address the state s poverty and affordability crises like increased tax credits for families and the creation of the first statewide housing voucher campaign for the homeless However when it comes to labor rules and protections the budget is a mixed bag for blue-collar New Yorkers advocates noted One thing countless New Yorkers agree on including Gov Kathy Hochul and worker advocates is the need to address the high costs of living During her State of the State speech in January Hochul stated that New York s future depends on the ability of every family to afford the essentials of life When we raised the minimum wage and tied it to inflation Hochul added it was because I believe that when costs go up your wages should too However advocates argue that raising wages is pointless if strong protections aren t in place to ensure workers receive their wages on time and without having to fight for them through the lengthy wage theft suggests process Here s a look at what the budget included around labor and wages Pay frequency for manual workers The budget included changes to Section of the New York Labor Law which regulates workers payment frequency Manual workers someone who spends more than percent of their work time each week doing physical labor have to get paid weekly and no later than seven days after those wages were earned In the past If a payment was late the employer had to pay damages equal to percent of the wages owed With the budget change manual workers won t be able to receive those damages for the first late payment violation but only when a violation occurs for a second time When inquired about the change the New York State Department of Labor DOL referred to the governor s previous May press release on workforce changes in the budget A large number of small businesses are unaware of the weekly requirement for classes of manual workers or that a certain classification of work is deemed manual work pay the workers in-full and semi-monthly and then are sued for large amounts of money despite already paying their employees full wages the announcement at the time explained Under the new rules once an employer is put on notice that the class of workers are manual they owe interest for the weeks in which the workers were paid semi-monthly rather than weekly the press release added If the employer does not pay those manual workers weekly going forward then they may be subject to liquidated damages Labor advocates were upset about the amendment saying it helped ensure workers get paid on time The penalties applied to these violations were an effective deterrent to non-payment late payment disclosed Natalia Aristizabal deputy director of Make the Road New York Advocates also argue that it is often big companies not the small businesses the governor cites that frequently violate the law The main beneficiaries are large companies like large retail and fast-food chains and companies in the building services industry that have been accused of routinely paying their workers late reported Richard Blum a staff attorney in the employment law unit at the Legal Aid Society The change took effect with the budget s passage last month and applies retroactively to pending cases Wage theft Each year in New York more than million workers don t get their full pay amounting to a combined billion in unpaid wages and benefits according to advocates Gov Hochul announcing a multi-pronged effort to combat wage theft in July Don Pollard Office of Governor Kathy Hochul In New York wage theft can mean different things failure to pay the minimum wage overtime or tips or not giving an employee their required meal and rest breaks Both the state and federal labor departments enforce wage standards In New York City the greatest number of state wage investigations are in the midtown Manhattan area with hundreds of cases from to according to the DOL s online dashboard This year the budget gives the DOL more power to enforce wage theft laws including the ability to seize a violator s financial assets and place liens on property following an unpaid wage theft judgment These strengthened penalties empower the Department of Labor to better protect the paychecks of hardworking New Yorkers and safeguard the young and often majority of vulnerable members of our workforce a DOL spokesman reported via email The DOL commissioner can now give a county sheriff a warrant to seize and sell the property of wage theft offenders who owe monetary penalties The sheriff has to pay any collected funds to the DOL within days Wage theft is one of the cruelest the greater part rampant crimes we don t talk about enough commented Senator Jessica Ramos chair of the Labor Committee and a candidate running to be the city s next mayor via email This year s budget makes selected strides toward the accountability we seek for bad employers but we remain hopeful that our efforts will continue to empower workers to come forward with real tools like liens and stop-work orders so there are real consequences for stealing a paycheck she added While these new powers give the state a little more teeth advocates argue that they can only be used after a lengthy court process and only for DOL s own cases New York State Attorney General Letitia James and district attorneys also combat wage theft through investigations settlements and legal action The budget tweaks the powers of the Department of Labor to enforce its own orders in wage theft cases only at the end of a years-long process during which wage thieves can already have hidden all their assets declared Blum Blum noted that for years advocates and legislators have been pushing for the approval of the Empowering People in Rights Enforcement EMPIRE Worker Protection Act which would allow an affected employee or an organization that represents them to start a legal scenario on behalf of the labor commissioner Supporters plan to rally for passage of the proposal in Albany Wednesday They highlight the difficulty of private enforcement in smaller workplaces and rural communities and say the DOL lacks the guidance needed to effectively investigate and prosecute wage theft on a large scale Assemblymember Jo Ann Simon co-sponsor of the EMPIRE Act at a rally for the bill last month Photo shared by Simon s office The changes in the budget don t go far enough Blum revealed Unlike the EMPIRE Worker Protection Act this tweak does not give the Department the tools it necessities to conduct timely investigations Blum added via email It does not give workers the tools they need to prevent wage thieves from transferring their assets to avoid collection well before the end of a development against them In state lawmakers passed the Securing Wages Earned Against Theft SWEAT bill which would have allowed employees to place a lien on their employer s property for the value of a wage claim But former governor and current New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo vetoed it citing technical aspects Child labor New York s child labor laws mainly regulate the hours and conditions under which young people can work Youth under can t work with specific exceptions and those and older can but with limits on the number of hours per day and week especially during school season Teens between and years old also need an employment certificate or working papers issued by school districts Now neither the State Schooling Department New York City Department of Schooling nor the NYS Department of Labor have content on the number of working papers issued The state DOL plans to offer digital working papers in the future and expects to maintain a database of those by May According to the DOL s Child Labor Matter Figures the number of child labor cases in New York has increased since coinciding with a nationwide rise In the past years the U S Department of Labor has seen a percent increase in the number of children employed in violation of child labor laws across the country explains the governor s press release In her executive budget distributed in January Hochul announced the state longed to align child labor law penalties with severity of violation advancing law to raise the maximum civil penalties The union movement has dependably prioritized protecting our youth and ensuring their safety in the workplace That is why we strongly supported increasing penalties for employers who violate child labor laws disclosed Mario Cilento New York State AFL-CIO president The final budget increased civil violations from a prior maximum of for first-time offenders to up to from to at least but no more than for second violations and from to at least but no more than for third violations By increasing penalties New York is taking a critical step toward ensuring that employers who violate the law are held accountable and that illegally employing minors isn t just the cost of doing business declared Nina Mast a procedures and economic analyst at the Economic Procedures Institute While the increases seem high lawyers find certain problems in the language included in the budget for the penalty assessment as it asks the DOL commissioner to give consideration to the good faith of the employer to believe that its conduct was in compliance with the law among other factors It is almost certain that the Department of Labor will have to litigate over and over the meaning of the phrase good faith belief Blum disclosed The phrase is an invitation to employers to exploit child labor and then litigate this vague defense if they are caught The budget also raises the fines for injury or death of a minor worker Now for a first-time violation the minimum fine is but can go up to For a second violation it ll start at and can go up to And for a third violation the fine will range from to The updates New York is making to state child labor standards are particularly essential amid rising violations in New York and across the country continued attempts to weaken existing standards in a large number of states and the pitfall of diminished federal wage and hour enforcement Mast stated To reach the reporter behind this story contact Daniel citylimits org The reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint agenda here The post Changes to New York Labor Laws Included in the Latest State Budget appeared first on City Limits