BILL NUMBER:S3362A      REVISED MEMO 05/15/13

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation
to prohibiting local laws requiring the reporting of certain employee
wage information

PURPOSE:

To prohibit local laws that require an employer to provide employment
and wage information related to any employee or contractor to a local
agency except as required for investigations or enforcement and to
provide data for determining prevailing wages.

EXISTING LAW:

Section 195 of the Labor Law requires every employer to provide its
employees with a written notice at the time of hiring, and annually
thereafter, regarding the employee's rate of pay; whether by hour,
shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission, or other; allowances,
including tip, meal, or lodging allowances; the regular pay day
designated by the employer; the employer's name and any "doing
business as" names; the employer's main office physical address and a
mailing address; the employer's telephone number; and any other
information deemed material and necessary by the Commissioner of
Labor.

              

The Commissioner of Labor is authorized to request and receive
employee information in accordance with his or her general powers
pursuant to Labor Law § 21 and the Commissioner's investigatory and
enforcement powers related to alleged wage-related violations pursuant
to Labor Law §§ 196 and 196-A.

JUSTIFICATION:

Employers in New York State are under increasing pressure from high
costs and government mandates. This has limited the State's ability to
entice businesses to locate in New York and to create new jobs and
grow the State's economy.

This bill is necessary to ensure that employers are not burdened by
any new locally imposed paperwork and filing mandates regarding
employee employment and wage information. Specifically, the
legislation would pre-empt local laws, such as that enacted in New
York City, which required employers in the affordable housing industry
to file new disclosures related to their employees. The purported
purpose of wage notification mandates is to ensure employers pay wages
to their employees in accordance with Labor Law Article 6. The problem
is that unscrupulous employers who may be underpaying their employees
will not disclose this abuse through wage reporting and notice
requirements. Imposing new disclosure requirements on responsible
employers, such as mandating that employers file wage and employment
information with local agencies, would be financially burdensome and
unnecessary for employers.

The fact is that affordable housing developers value their employees
and comply with the many existing requirements related to information
posting and employee wage and employment information. Under current


state law, employers are not required to submit employment and wage
information compiled in accordance to Article 6 of the Labor Law with
the Department of Labor or any other state or local agency. The New
York City law targets a single class of employer those in the
affordable housing industry with no ostensible public purpose or
related to employee safety. This bill is necessary to insure that
other localities do not similarly burden selected classes of employers
for redundant or unnecessary reporting which is usually covered by
state law. Further, employers who work in different localities
throughout the state should not be burdened with multiple sets of
local reporting and should be able to rely upon the certainty that
single agency reporting at the state level fosters.

This bill would merely clarify that employers would not have to
provide such information to any local agency, except as required
pursuant to an investigation or enforcement of alleged violations of
law or to provide date for determining prevailing wages.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.7825 - 2011-2012

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This bill shall take effect immediately after it shall have become a
law.