STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6114 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 16, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SAVINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law and the penal law, in relation to wage theft The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 20.40 of the criminal procedure 2 law is amended by adding a new paragraph (o) to read as follows: 3 (o) An offense of wage theft as defined in section 155.50 of the penal 4 law may be prosecuted in any county where services were provided or in 5 any county where the defendant agreed to pay such wages, regardless of 6 whether withheld wages for services provided in two or more counties 7 were charged as an aggregate amount. 8 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.50 to read 9 as follows: 10 § 155.50 Wage theft; definition. 11 For the purposes of sections 155.55, 155.60, 155.65, 155.70 and 155.75 12 of this article, a person commits wage theft when he or she withholds 13 agreed-upon wages that were promised in exchange for the performance of 14 services by another person who has performed the agreed-upon services, 15 with an intent to deprive such person of property or to appropriate the 16 same to himself or herself or a third person. 17 § 3. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.55 to read 18 as follows: 19 § 155.55 Wage theft in the fifth degree. 20 A person is guilty of wage theft in the fifth degree when he or she 21 commits wage theft as defined in section 155.50 of this article. 22 Wage theft in the fifth degree is a class A misdemeanor. 23 § 4. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.60 to read 24 as follows: 25 § 155.60 Wage theft in the fourth degree. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11744-01-9

S. 6114 2 1 A person is guilty of wage theft in the fourth degree when he or she 2 commits wage theft as defined in section 155.50 of this article and 3 when: 4 1. the aggregate value of the wages withheld from one person exceeds 5 one thousand dollars; or 6 2. he or she withholds wages from ten or more people. 7 Wage theft in the fourth degree is a class E felony. 8 § 5. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.65 to read 9 as follows: 10 § 155.65 Wage theft in the third degree. 11 A person is guilty of wage theft in the third degree when he or she 12 commits wage theft as defined in section 155.50 of this article and 13 when: 14 1. the aggregate value of the wages withheld from one person exceeds 15 three thousand dollars; or 16 2. he or she withholds wages from twenty-five or more people. 17 Wage theft in the third degree is a class D felony. 18 § 6. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.70 to read 19 as follows: 20 § 155.70 Wage theft in the second degree. 21 A person is guilty of wage theft in the second degree when he or she 22 commits wage theft as defined in section 155.50 of this article and 23 when: 24 1. the aggregate value of the wages withheld from one person exceeds 25 fifty thousand dollars; or 26 2. he or she withholds wages from fifty or more people. 27 Wage theft in the second degree is a class C felony. 28 § 7. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.75 to read 29 as follows: 30 § 155.75 Wage theft in the first degree. 31 A person is guilty of wage theft in the first degree when he or she 32 commits wage theft as defined in section 155.50 of this article and 33 when: 34 1. the aggregate value of the wages withheld from one person exceeds 35 one million dollars; or 36 2. he or she withholds wages from seventy-five or more people. 37 Wage theft in the first degree is a class B felony. 38 § 8. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 20.20 of the penal law, 39 as amended by chapter 671 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as 40 follows: 41 (c) The conduct constituting the offense is engaged in by an agent of 42 the corporation while acting within the scope of his employment and in 43 behalf of the corporation, and the offense is (i) a misdemeanor or a 44 violation, (ii) one defined by a statute which clearly indicates a 45 legislative intent to impose such criminal liability on a corporation, 46 [or] (iii) any offense set forth in title twenty-seven of article seven- 47 ty-one of the environmental conservation law, or (iv) any offense set 48 forth in section 155.55, 155.60, 155.65, 155.70 or 155.75 of this chap- 49 ter. 50 § 9. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 51 have become a law.

Establishes the crime of wage theft

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