New York Strengthens Wage Theft Penalties

New York has enacted legislation (Senate Bill 2832-A), which amends the state’s criminal larceny law to include wage theft. This could subject employers who are found to have committed wage theft to increased penalties. Senate Bill 2832-A is effective immediately.

The details

Under the law, a person will be considered to have obtained property by wage theft when:

• An employer hires a person to perform services.
• The person performs the services; and
• The employer does not pay wages, at the minimum wage rate and overtime, or promised wage (if greater than the minimum wage rate and overtime) to the person that performed the work.

Note: For a venue or a workforce, all employer non-payments (or underpayments) may be aggregated into one larceny count, even if the violations occurred in multiple counties.

Penalties

With wage theft now being included under the crime of larceny, employers found to have violated the law may face greater penalties.

Next steps

• Review pay policies and practices to ensure compliance under Senate Bill 2832-A.
• Train supervisors on the increased severity of the penalty for wage theft.