Provides that no municipal corporation shall enact any local law, rule, regulation or ordinance that would require an employer to provide employment and wage information related to an employee or contractor

Existing law

Section 195 of the Labor Law requires every employer to provide its employees with a written notice at the time of hiring, and annually thereafter, regarding the employee's rate of pay; whether by hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission, or other; allowances, including tip, meal, or lodging allowances; the regular pay day designated by the employer; the employer's name and any "doing business as" names; the employer's main office physical address and a mailing address; the employer's telephone number; and any other information deemed material and necessary by the Commissioner of Labor.

The Commissioner of Labor is authorized to request and receive employee information in accordance with his or her general powers pursuant to Labor Law § 21 and the Commissioner's investigatory and enforcement powers related to alleged wage-related violations pursuant to Labor Law §§ 196 and 196-A.

Justification

Employers in New York State are under increasing pressure from high costs and government mandates. This has limited the State's ability to entice businesses to locate in New York and to create new jobs and grow the State's economy.

This bill is necessary to ensure that employers are not burdened by any new locally imposed paperwork and filing mandates regarding employee employment and wage information. Specifically, the legislation would pre-empt local laws, such as that enacted in New York City, which required employers in the affordable housing industry to file new disclosures related to their employees. The purported purpose of wage notification mandates is to ensure employers pay wages to their employees in accordance with Labor Law Article 6. The problem is that unscrupulous employers who may be underpaying their employees will not disclose this abuse through wage reporting and notice requirements. Imposing new disclosure requirements on responsible employers, such as mandating that employers file wage and employment information with local agencies, would be financially burdensome and unnecessary for employers.

The fact is that affordable housing developers value their employees and comply with the many existing requirements related to information posting and employee wage and employment information. Under current

state law, employers are not required to submit employment and wage information compiled in accordance to Article 6 of the Labor Law with the Department of Labor or any other state or local agency. The New York City law targets a single class of employer those in the affordable housing industry with no ostensible public purpose or related to employee safety. This bill is necessary to insure that other localities do not similarly burden selected classes of employers for redundant or unnecessary reporting which is usually covered by state law. Further, employers who work in different localities throughout the state should not be burdened with multiple sets of local reporting and should be able to rely upon the certainty that single agency reporting at the state level fosters.

This bill would merely clarify that employers would not have to provide such information to any local agency, except as required pursuant to an investigation or enforcement of alleged violations of law or to provide date for determining prevailing wages.

Legislative history

S.7825 - 2011-2012

Fiscal implications

None

Effective date

This bill shall take effect immediately after it shall have become a law.