S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
9335
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 16, 2012
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LOSQUADRO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law and the state finance law, in relation to
payroll efficiency
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Public
employee payroll efficiency act."
S 2. Legislative intent: The legislature hereby declares and finds
that recent innovations in payroll processing and delivery deem current
processes unnecessarily expensive and inefficient. Delivery of an
employee's net salary by means of an electronic funds transfer and
delivery of the employee's wage statement through electronic means
provides a multitude of benefits for both the employer and employee by
substantially reducing the costs of the transaction and reducing the
amount of time and effort required for an employee to receive his or her
net salary. Furthermore, the legislature finds that delivery of cash
payments by electronic means has resulted in significant savings to the
federal government and the state's department of taxation and finance
and department of labor without impacting entitlement of the payee. The
legislature declares that New York state, being at the forefront of
innovation, should apply these universally beneficial processes to the
delivery of its payroll and should permit municipalities and public
authorities to, at their discretion, apply these processes to their
payroll for the benefit of public employers, public employees, and the
taxpayers of New York state.
S 3. Section 192 of the labor law, as amended by chapter 301 of the
laws of 1974, subdivision 1 as added by chapter 475 of the laws of 1981
and as renumbered by chapter 170 of the laws of 1994, and subdivision 2
as amended by chapter 304 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as
follows:
S 192. Cash payment of wages. 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.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14379-02-2
A. 9335 2
2. This section shall not apply to EMPLOYEES OF THE STATE OR TO ANY
EMPLOYEES OF A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, SCHOOL DISTRICT, BOARD OF COOPER-
ATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, FIRE DISTRICT, STATE AUTHORITY, LOCAL
AUTHORITY, OR SUBSIDIARY THAT REQUIRES PAYMENT BY ELECTRONIC FUNDS
TRANSFER UNDER THE RULES ESTABLISHED BY THE STATE COMPTROLLER PURSUANT
TO SUBDIVISION FOUR OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED OF THE STATE FINANCE LAW.
THIS SECTION SHALL ALSO NOT APPLY TO any person employed in a bona fide
executive, administrative, or professional capacity whose earnings are
in excess of nine hundred dollars a week, nor to employees working on a
farm not connected with a factory.
S 4. Subdivision 4 of section 200 of the state finance law, as amended
by chapter 280 of the laws of 1993, and paragraphs (a) and (b) as
amended by chapter 641 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as
follows:
4. (a) [Upon the written request from a state employee, the] THE comp-
troller may [cause,] REQUIRE, in accordance with the rules and regu-
lations promulgated pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision,
[such] A STATE employee's net salary[, or any portion thereof designated
by the employee,] to be deposited [directly in a bank for any purpose]
BY MEANS OF ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER to an account OR DIRECT PAY CARD
in the name of such employee[, on forms provided by the comptroller, and
duly filed in accordance with such regulations]. FOR THE PURPOSES OF
THIS SECTION "ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER" MEANS ANY TRANSFER OF FUNDS,
OTHER THAN A TRANSACTION ORIGINATED BY CASH, CHECK, OR SIMILAR PAPER
INSTRUMENT, THAT IS INITIATED THROUGH AN ELECTRONIC TERMINAL, TELEPHONE,
COMPUTER, OR MAGNETIC TAPE, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ORDERING, INSTRUCTING, OR
AUTHORIZING A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION TO DEBIT OR CREDIT AN ACCOUNT.
"DIRECT PAY CARD" MEANS THE PREPAID DEBIT CARD ISSUED TO PARTICIPATING
EMPLOYEES BY A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION PURSUANT TO THE RULES AND REGU-
LATIONS ESTABLISHED BY THE COMPTROLLER.
(b) The comptroller is hereby authorized to promulgate reasonable
rules and regulations, as may be necessary, to administer the [direct
deposit] ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER of employees' salaries AND THE ELEC-
TRONIC DELIVERY OF EMPLOYEE'S WAGE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION
FIVE OF THIS SECTION. [In regard to the deposit of a portion of an
employee's net salary, such regulations may establish a minimum dollar
amount and may limit the maximum number of partial deposits allowed.]
THE COMPTROLLER SHALL ALSO DESIGNATE A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION FOR THE
PROVISION OF AN ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER MADE UNDER THIS SECTION BY
MEANS OF A DIRECT PAY CARD. THE COMPTROLLER SHALL WORK WITH SUCH DESIG-
NATED FINANCIAL INSTITUTION TO ESTABLISH RULES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
TO PROVIDING PAYEES ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO CARD BALANCE INFORMATION,
DEBITS POSTED ON THE CARD AND PROVISIONS FOR REPLACEMENT CARDS AND FEES
IN THE EVENT A PAYEE'S DEBIT CARD IS LOST OR STOLEN.
THE COMPTROLLER MAY ALSO PROMULGATE THE RULES AND REGULATIONS BY WHICH
A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, SCHOOL DISTRICT, BOARD OF COOPERATIVE EDUCA-
TIONAL SERVICES, FIRE DISTRICT, STATE AUTHORITY, LOCAL AUTHORITY, OR
SUBSIDIARY MAY, BY RESOLUTION OF ITS GOVERNING BOARD, REQUIRE ITS
EMPLOYEES TO RECEIVE THEIR NET SALARY BY MEANS OF AN ELECTRONIC FUNDS
TRANSFER AND THEIR WAGE STATEMENT BY MEANS OF ELECTRONIC MAIL.
(c) As used in this subdivision, the term ["bank"] "FINANCIAL INSTITU-
TION" shall include any financial institution which is a member of the
New York automated clearing house or [any other financial institution
designated by the comptroller] WHICH IS AN INSURED BANK, SAVINGS BANK,
MUTUAL SAVINGS BANK, OR SAVINGS ASSOCIATION AS DEFINED IN SECTION 3 OF
A. 9335 3
12 U.S.C. 1813 OR AN INSURED CREDIT UNION AS DEFINED IN SECTION 101 OF
12 U.S.C. 1752.
S 5. Subdivision 5 of section 200 of the state finance law is renum-
bered subdivision 6 and a new subdivision 5 is added to read as follows:
5. THE COMPTROLLER MAY ALSO REQUIRE STATE EMPLOYEES TO RECEIVE THEIR
WAGE STATEMENT BY MEANS OF THE EMPLOYEE'S STATE PROVIDED ELECTRONIC MAIL
ADDRESS, OR, IN THE EVENT THE EMPLOYEE IS NOT PROVIDED A STATE ELECTRON-
IC MAIL ADDRESS, THE EMPLOYEE'S PERSONAL ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESS, AS
DESIGNATED BY THE EMPLOYEE. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SUBDIVISION "WAGE
STATEMENT" MEANS A DOCUMENT THAT CONFIRMS AN ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER
AND PROVIDES ANY INFORMATION ABOUT SUCH TRANSFER THAT IS REQUIRED BY
LAW, RULE, OR REGULATION.
S 6. This act shall take effect January 1, 2013.