The Wage Theft Prevention Act, requires all employers provide notice to their employees: (a) when they are hired, (b) annually, between January 1st and February 1st, and (c) whenever an employee’s pay rage changes. Additionally, employers in the hospitality industry must also give a new notice every time a wage rate changes.
Do not forget to provide your employees with this notice this next month. If you do not have a notice, our office is happy to help.
What must be included within the Notice?
- The employee’s rate(s) of pay;
- The basis of the employee’s rate(s) of pay (e.g. by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission, or other);
- Whether the employer intends to claim allowances as part of the minimum wage, including tip, meal, or lodging allowances, and the amount of those allowances;
- The employee’s regular pay day designated by the employer in accordance with the frequency of pay requirements in the Labor Law1;
- The name of the employer and any "doing business as" names used by the employer;
- The physical address of the employer's main office or principal place of business, and a mailing address if different;
- The telephone number of the employer;
- Any “such other information as the commissioner deems material and necessary.”
Keep in mind, notices must be given in a worker’s primary language. Regardless of whether you’ve given your employees notice when they were hired, you must still give all your employees a notice of their pay rate this upcoming January, even if nothing has changed with respect to their pay rate, and the notice must be independent (its own form), and not contained in an employment agreement. You are required to keep a copy of all signed, and unsigned (refused) notices.
Penalties: If you fail to provide a notice, you can be fined $50 per week, per employee, and the employee can sue you for up to $2,500.