STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7773 IN SENATE January 11, 2022 ___________ Introduced by Sen. RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the labor law and the general business law, in relation to actions for non-payment of wages; and to amend a chapter of the laws of 2021, amending the labor law and the general business law relating to actions for non-payment of wages, as proposed in legisla- tive bills numbers S. 2766-C and A. 3350-A, in relation to the effec- tiveness thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2, 4, 9 and 10 of section 198-e of the 2 labor law, as added by a chapter of the laws of 2021, amending the labor 3 law and the general business law relating to actions for non-payment of 4 wages, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 2766-C and A. 3350-A, 5 are amended to read as follows: 6 1. A contractor making or taking a construction contract shall [~~assume~~ 7 ~~liability~~] be liable for any debt resulting from an action under section 8 one hundred ninety-eight of this article, owed to [~~a wage claimant~~] an 9 employee or third party on the [~~wage claimant's~~] employee's behalf, 10 incurred by a subcontractor at any tier acting under, by, or for the 11 contractor or its subcontractors for the [~~wage claimant's~~] employee's 12 performance of labor. The provisions of this section shall not be deemed 13 to limit the liability of a subcontractor under section one hundred 14 ninety-eight of this article. 15 2. No agreement or release by an employee or subcontractor to waive 16 liability [~~assigned to~~] of a contractor under this section shall be 17 valid except as otherwise provided herein. The provisions of this 18 section shall not be deemed to impair the rights of a contractor to 19 maintain an action against a subcontractor for amounts for owed wages 20 that are paid by a contractor pursuant to this section. 21 4. In the case of a private civil action by an employee, such employee 22 may designate any person, organization or collective bargaining agent 23 authorized to file a complaint with the commissioner pursuant to EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04456-14-2

S. 7773 2 1 section one hundred ninety-six-a of this article, to make a [~~wage~~] claim 2 pursuant to this section on his or her behalf. 3 9. [~~Any~~] A contractor's liability [~~assigned to a contractor~~] pursuant 4 to the provisions of this section shall be applicable only for [~~any~~] 5 claims occurring no [~~later~~] earlier than three years prior to the initi- 6 ation of such claim in a court of competent jurisdiction or the 7 commencement of a civil action brought forth by the attorney general or 8 department. Before bringing a civil action pursuant to this section, an 9 employee, or third party on such employee's behalf, must give the 10 contractor notice of the alleged violation. The notice need only 11 describe the general nature of the claim and shall not limit the liabil- 12 ity of the contractor or preclude subsequent amendments of an action to 13 encompass additional employees employed by the subcontractor. An 14 employee, or third party on such employee's behalf, may not bring a 15 civil action until ten business days after giving the contractor notice 16 of the alleged violation and may not bring a civil action if the 17 contractor corrects the alleged violation. An employee, or third party 18 on such employee's behalf, is not required to give notice to a contrac- 19 tor pursuant to this subdivision before bringing a civil action pursuant 20 to this section if any employee, or third party on any employee's 21 behalf, previously has given notice to such contractor of the same 22 alleged violation or a prior alleged violation by the same subcontrac- 23 tor. The provisions of this section shall not be deemed to diminish, 24 impair, or otherwise infringe on any other rights of an employee 25 provided pursuant to this chapter, including the right of an employee to 26 bring an action against any employer under the provisions of section one 27 hundred ninety-eight of this article. 28 10. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the rights, 29 privileges, or remedies of any employee under any collective bargaining 30 agreement. [~~The~~] On behalf of an employee subject to a collective 31 bargaining agreement, the provisions of this section may be waived by a 32 collective bargaining agreement with a bona fide building and 33 construction trade labor organization which has established itself, 34 and/or its affiliates, as the collective bargaining representative for 35 persons performing work on a project, provided that for such waiver to 36 be valid, it shall explicitly reference this section. Provided, howev- 37 er, that such waiver shall not diminish or impair the rights of an 38 employee provided under any other section of this chapter. 39 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 756-f of the general business law, as 40 added by a chapter of the laws of 2021, amending the labor law and the 41 general business law relating to actions for non-payment of wages, as 42 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 2766-C and A. 3350-A, is 43 amended to read as follows: 44 1. Upon request of a contractor, or a contractor's subcontractor, to 45 any subcontractor which performs any portion of work within the scope of 46 the contractor's construction contract with an owner, such subcontractor 47 shall provide certified payroll records which, at a minimum, contain all 48 lawfully required information required by articles six and nineteen of 49 the labor law for all employees providing labor on the project. Such 50 payroll records shall contain sufficient information to apprise the 51 contractor or subcontractor of such subcontractor's payment status in 52 paying wages and [~~making any applicable fringe or other benefit payments~~ 53 ~~or contributions to a third party on its~~] benefits, as defined by 54 section one hundred ninety-eight-c of the labor law, including payments 55 or contributions on the employee's behalf. Payroll records shall be 56 marked or redacted to an extent only to prevent disclosure of an indi-

S. 7773 3 1 vidual's full social security number but shall provide the last four 2 digits of the social security number. 3 § 3. Section 4 of a chapter of the laws of 2021, amending the labor 4 law and the general business law relating to actions for non-payment of 5 wages, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 2766-C and A. 3350-A, 6 is amended to read as follows: 7 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 8 it shall have become a law and shall apply to construction contracts 9 entered into, renewed, modified or amended on or after such effective 10 date and shall only apply to wages, benefits, and/or wage supplements 11 earned on or after such effective date. 12 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 13 sections one and two of this act shall take effect on the same date and 14 in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2021, amending the labor 15 law and the general business law relating to actions for non-payment of 16 wages, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 2766-C and A. 3350-A, 17 takes effect.

Relates to actions for non-payment of wages

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