Assembly Bill A6894

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 6894--A

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              April 5, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M. of A. WRIGHT, HEVESI, ZEBROWSKI -- Multi-Sponsored by
  -- M. of A.  CURRAN -- read once and  referred  to  the  Committee  on
  Labor  --  recommitted  to  the  Committee on Labor in accordance with
  Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
  reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to clarifying methods for the
  payment of wages and authorizing  the  payment  of  wages  by  use  of
  payroll cards

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. The section heading of section 192 of  the  labor  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  301  of  the  laws  of 1974, is amended to read as
follows:
  [Cash payment] PAYMENT of wages.
  S 2. Subdivision 1 of section 192 of the labor law, as added by  chap-
ter 475 of the laws of 1981 and as renumbered by chapter 170 of the laws
of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
  1.  [No  employer  shall  without  the  advance written consent of any
employee directly pay or deposit the net wage or salary of such employee
in a bank or other financial institution.] WAGES SHALL BE PAID USING ONE
OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING METHODS:
  A. IN LAWFUL MONEY OF THE UNITED STATES;
  B. BY CHECK PAYABLE AT FACE VALUE UPON DEMAND IN LAWFUL MONEY  OF  THE
UNITED STATES;
  C. BY ELECTRONIC AUTOMATED FUND TRANSFER IN LAWFUL MONEY OF THE UNITED
STATES INTO AN ACCOUNT IN THE NAME OF THE EMPLOYEE AT A FINANCIAL INSTI-
TUTION  DESIGNATED BY THE EMPLOYEE; PROVIDED THAT THE EMPLOYEE VOLUNTAR-
ILY GIVES WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION IN ADVANCE TO RECEIVE HIS OR  HER  WAGES
IN THIS MANNER; OR

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD10535-03-2

A. 6894--A                          2
              

  D.  BY CREDIT TO A PAYROLL CARD IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION ONE HUNDRED
NINETY-TWO-A OF THIS ARTICLE, PROVIDED THAT THE EMPLOYEE  GIVES  WRITTEN
AUTHORIZATION IN ADVANCE TO RECEIVE HIS OR HER WAGES IN THIS MANNER.
  S 3. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 192-a to read as
follows:
  S  192-A.  PAYMENT  OF  WAGES  USING PAYROLL CARDS. 1. AS USED IN THIS
SECTION:
  A. "PAYROLL CARD" MEANS A PREPAID CARD OR  OTHER  DEVICE  USED  BY  AN
EMPLOYEE TO ACCESS WAGES FROM A PAYROLL CARD ACCOUNT;
  B.  "PAYROLL  CARD ACCOUNT" MEANS AN ACCOUNT THAT IS DIRECTLY OR INDI-
RECTLY ESTABLISHED THROUGH AN EMPLOYER AND TO  WHICH  TRANSFERS  OF  THE
EMPLOYEE'S WAGES, SALARY OR OTHER COMPENSATION ARE MADE; AND
  C. "PAYROLL CARD ISSUER" MEANS A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION OR OTHER ENTITY
THAT ISSUES A PAYROLL CARD TO EMPLOYEES ON BEHALF OF THEIR EMPLOYER.
  2. IF AN EMPLOYER PAYS WAGES TO EMPLOYEES BY CREDIT TO A PAYROLL CARD:
  A.  EXCEPT  AS  PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH B OF THIS SUBDIVISION, EMPLOYEES
MUST BE ABLE TO MAKE AT  LEAST  ONE  WITHDRAWAL  OR  TRANSFER  FROM  THE
PAYROLL CARD ACCOUNT IN EACH PAY PERIOD WITHOUT CHARGE FOR ANY AMOUNT UP
TO AND INCLUDING THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE EMPLOYEE'S WAGES FOR THE PERIOD.
  B.  IF  WAGES  ARE PAID MORE FREQUENTLY THAN WEEKLY, EMPLOYEES MUST BE
ABLE TO MAKE AT LEAST ONE  WITHDRAWAL  OR  TRANSFER  EACH  WEEK  WITHOUT
CHARGE FOR ANY AMOUNT UP TO AND INCLUDING THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE EMPLOY-
EE'S WAGES FOR THAT WEEK.
  C.  IF  AN  EMPLOYER COMPLIES WITH THE WITHDRAWAL REQUIREMENTS OF THIS
SUBDIVISION AND THE NOTICE  REQUIREMENT  IN  SUBDIVISION  FOUR  OF  THIS
SECTION,  FEES  ASSESSED  BY  THE PAYROLL CARD ISSUER IN ACCORDANCE WITH
SUCH NOTICE SHALL NOT BE DEEMED TO BE DEDUCTIONS FROM  WAGES  AND  SHALL
NOT  BE  DEEMED TO VIOLATE SECTION ONE HUNDRED NINETY-ONE OR ONE HUNDRED
NINETY-THREE OF THIS ARTICLE.
  3. EMPLOYERS WHO USE PAYROLL CARDS TO DELIVER WAGES OR  OTHER  COMPEN-
SATION TO THEIR EMPLOYEES MUST ALSO PROVIDE EMPLOYEES WITH THE OPTION OF
RECEIVING  THEIR WAGES OR OTHER COMPENSATION BY ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFER
IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION ONE HUNDRED NINETY-ONE-C OF THIS ARTICLE.
  4. EMPLOYEES WHO RECEIVE WAGES BY CREDIT TO A  PAYROLL  CARD  MUST  BE
PROVIDED  WITH  A  MEANS OF CHECKING THEIR PAYROLL CARD ACCOUNT BALANCES
THROUGH AN AUTOMATED TELEPHONE  SYSTEM  AND  ONE  ADDITIONAL  ELECTRONIC
MEANS, WITHOUT COST IRRESPECTIVE OF NUMBER OF INQUIRIES MADE.
  5. PRIOR TO PAYING AN EMPLOYEE'S WAGES BY CREDIT TO A PAYROLL CARD, AN
EMPLOYER MUST PROVIDE THE EMPLOYEE WITH NOTICE OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS IN
PAPER  OR  PRINTABLE  FORM. NOTICE MUST BE PROVIDED IN THE LANGUAGES THE
EMPLOYER NORMALLY USES TO  COMMUNICATE  EMPLOYMENT-RELATED  POLICIES  TO
THEIR EMPLOYEES'.
  A.  THE  TERMS  AND  CONDITIONS  RELATING  TO USE OF THE PAYROLL CARD,
INCLUDING A LIST OF FEES THAT  MAY  BE  ASSESSED  BY  THE  PAYROLL  CARD
ISSUER;
  B.  THE  METHODS  AVAILABLE  TO  EMPLOYEES FOR ACCESSING WAGES WITHOUT
COSTS;
  C. THE METHODS AVAILABLE TO EMPLOYEES FOR CHECKING THE BALANCE IN  THE
PAYROLL CARD ACCOUNT WITHOUT COST; AND
  D. A STATEMENT AS TO WHETHER THIRD PARTIES MAY ASSES ADDITIONAL FEES.
  6.  WAGES  CREDITED  TO  A PAYROLL CARD ACCOUNT MUST BE INSURED BY THE
FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION, THE NATIONAL CREDIT UNION  ADMIN-
ISTRATION, OR ANOTHER ENTITY ON A PASS THROUGH BASIS TO THE EMPLOYEE.
  S  4.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.