Senate Bill S517

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Increases civil and criminal penalties for failure to pay wages or to differentiate the rate of pay based on sex

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Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee


  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

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2015-S517 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Senate Labor
Law Section:
Labor Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§197 & 198-a, Lab L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2011-2012: S7351
2013-2014: S3497
2017-2018: S1675

2015-S517 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Increases civil and criminal penalties for failure to pay wages or to differentiate the rate of pay based on sex; directs the commissioner of labor to study and report upon wage differential among men and women, and between minorities and non-minorities.

2015-S517 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2015-S517 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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

                                   517

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  LITTLE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor

AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to increasing the  fines  for
  employers  not  lawfully paying the wages of his or her employees; and
  to direct the commissioner of labor to issue a report on wage  differ-
  ential among men and women and between minorities and non-minorities

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

  Section 1. Section 197 of the labor law, as amended by chapter 564  of
the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
  S  197.  Civil penalty. Any employer who fails to pay the wages of his
employees or shall differentiate in rate  of  pay  because  of  sex,  as
provided  in  this article, shall forfeit to the people of the state the
sum of [five hundred] ONE THOUSAND dollars for each such failure, to  be
recovered  by  the commissioner in any legal action necessary, including
administrative action or a civil action.
  S 2. Subdivision 1 of section 198-a of the labor law,  as  amended  by
chapter 564 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
  1.  Every  employer who does not pay the wages of all of his employees
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, and the officers  and
agents of any corporation, partnership, or limited liability company who
knowingly  permit  the  corporation,  partnership,  or limited liability
company to violate this chapter by failing to pay the wages  of  any  of
its employees in accordance with the provisions thereof, shall be guilty
of  a  misdemeanor  for  the  first offense and upon conviction therefor
shall be fined not less than [five hundred] ONE THOUSAND nor  more  than
[twenty]  TWENTY-FIVE  thousand  dollars or imprisoned for not more than
one year, and, in the event that any second or subsequent offense occurs
within [six] FIVE years of the date of conviction for a  prior  offense,
shall  be  guilty  of a felony for the second or subsequent offense, and

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

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