* § 191-d. Payment of wages for freelance workers. 1. (a)
"Construction contractor" means any person, sole proprietor,
partnership, firm, corporation, limited liability company, association
or other legal entity who by oneself or through others offers to
undertake, or holds oneself out as being able to undertake, or does
undertake a construction project.

(b) "Construction project" means the providing of any labor or
services, and the use of any materials or equipment in order to alter,
build, excavate, add to, subtract from, improve, repair, maintain,
renovate, move, wreck or demolish any bridge, building, highway, road,
railroad, land, tunnel, sewer, drainage or other structure, project,
development, or improvement, or the doing of any part thereof, including
the erection of scaffolding or other structures or works in connection
therewith.

(c) "Freelance worker" means any natural person or organization
composed of no more than one natural person, whether or not incorporated
or employing a trade name, that is hired or retained as an independent
contractor by a hiring party to provide services in exchange for an
amount equal to or greater than eight hundred dollars, either by itself
or when aggregated with all contracts for services between the same
hiring party and freelance worker during the immediately preceding one
hundred twenty days, but does not include:

(i) any person who, pursuant to the contract at issue, is a sales
representative as defined in section one hundred ninety-one-a of this
article;

(ii) any person engaged in the practice of law pursuant to the
contract at issue and who is a member in good standing of the bar of the
highest court of any state, possession, territory, commonwealth or the
District of Columbia and who is not under any order of court suspending,
enjoining, restraining, disbarring or otherwise restricting such person
in the practices of law;

(iii) any person who is a licensed medical professional; or

(iv) any person who is a construction contractor.

(d) "Hiring party" means any person who retains a freelance worker to
provide any service, other than:

(i) the United States government;

(ii) the state of New York, including any office, department, agency,
authority or other body of the state including the legislature and the
judiciary;

(iii) a municipality, including any office, department, agency or
other body of a municipality; or

(iv) any foreign government.

2. (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, the contracted
compensation shall be paid to a freelance worker either:

(i) on or before the date such compensation is due under the terms of
the contract; or

(ii) if the contract does not specify when the hiring party must pay
the contracted compensation or the mechanism by which such date will be
determined, no later than thirty days after the completion of the
freelance worker's services under the contract.

(b) Once a freelance worker has commenced performance of the services
under the contract, the hiring party shall not require as a condition of
timely payment that the freelance worker accept less compensation than
the amount of the contracted compensation.

3. (a) Whenever a hiring party retains the services of a freelance
worker, as such terms are defined in this section, the contract between
such party and worker shall be reduced to writing. The hiring party must
furnish a copy of such written contract, either physically or
electronically, to the freelance worker and each party to the written
contract shall retain a copy thereof.

(b) The written contract shall include, at a minimum, the following
information:

(i) the name and mailing address of both the hiring party and the
freelance worker;

(ii) an itemization of all services to be provided by the freelance
worker, the value of the services to be provided pursuant to the
contract, and the rate and method of compensation;

(iii) the date on which the hiring party must pay the contracted
compensation or the mechanism by which such date will be determined; and

(iv) the date by which a freelance worker must submit a list of
services rendered under such contract to the hiring party in order to
meet any internal processing deadlines of such hiring party for the
purposes of compensation being timely rendered by the agreed-upon date
as stipulated in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph.

(c) The commissioner may by rule require additional terms to ensure
that the freelance worker and the hiring party understand their
obligations under the contract.

(d) Such hiring party shall be required to keep such contract for a
period of no less than six years and shall make such contract available
to the commissioner upon request. The failure of a hiring party to
produce such contract, upon request of the commissioner, shall give rise
to a presumption that the terms that the freelance worker has presented
are the agreed upon terms.

3-a. The commissioner shall make available model contracts on the
website of the department for use by the general public at no cost. Such
model contracts shall be made available in English and in the twelve
languages most commonly spoken by limited English proficient individuals
in the state.

4. No hiring party, as defined in this section, shall threaten,
intimidate, discipline, harass, deny a work opportunity to, or
discriminate against a freelance worker, or take any other action that
penalizes a freelance worker for, or is reasonably likely to deter a
freelance worker from, exercising or attempting to exercise any right
guaranteed under this article, or from obtaining any future work
opportunity because the freelance worker has done so.

5. (a) Any freelance worker or his or her authorized representative
may file with the commissioner a complaint regarding a violation of this
article for an investigation of such complaint and statement setting the
appropriate remedy, if any. The commissioner shall keep the names of
freelance workers who are the subject of an investigation confidential
until such time that disclosure is necessary for resolution of an
investigation or a complaint. Failure of a hiring party to keep adequate
records or provide a written contract as required under this section, in
addition to exposing such hiring party to penalties authorized under
this section, shall not operate as a bar to filing of a complaint by a
freelance worker. In such a case the hiring party in violation shall
bear the burden of proving that the complaining employee was paid in
accordance with this section.

(b) Each freelance worker who files a complaint regarding a violation
of this article or a rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, shall be
provided with a written description of the anticipated processing of the
complaint, including investigation, case conference, potential civil and
criminal penalties, and collection procedures.

(i) Each freelance worker and his or her authorized representative
shall be notified in writing of any case conference before it is held
and given the opportunity to attend.

(ii) Each freelance worker and his or her authorized representative
shall be notified in writing of any award and collection of civil
penalties.

6. The commissioner shall have the following duties, powers and
authority:

(a) The commissioner shall investigate and attempt to adjust equitably
controversies between freelance workers and hiring parties relating to
this article.

(b) The commissioner may take assignments of claims for wages under
this article from freelance workers or third parties in trust for such
freelance workers or for the benefit of various funds for such freelance
workers. All such assignments shall run to the commissioner and his or
her successor in office. The commissioner may sue hiring parties on wage
claims thus assigned, with the benefits and subject to the provisions of
existing law applying to actions by freelance workers for collection of
wages. He or she may join in a single action any number of wage claims
against the same hiring party.

(c) (i) The commissioner is hereby authorized and empowered to enter
into reciprocal agreements with the labor department or corresponding
agency of any other state or with the person, board, officer, or
commission authorized to act on behalf of such department or agency, for
the collection in such other states of claims and judgments for wages
based upon claims assigned to the commissioner.

(ii) The commissioner may, to the extent provided for by any
reciprocal agreement entered into by law or with any agency of another
state as herein provided, maintain actions in the courts of such other
state for the collection of claims and judgments for wages and may
assign such claims and judgments to the labor department or agency of
such other state for collection to the extent that such an assignment
may be permitted or provided for by the law of such state or by
reciprocal agreement.

(iii) The commissioner may, upon the written consent of the labor
department or other corresponding agency of any other state or of any
person, board, officer, or commission of such state authorized to act on
behalf of such labor department or corresponding agency, maintain
actions in the courts of this state upon assigned claims and judgments
for wages arising in such other state in the same manner and to the same
extent that such actions by the commissioner are authorized when arising
in this state. However, such actions may be maintained only in cases
where such other state by law or reciprocal agreement extends a like
comity to cases arising in this state.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring the
commissioner in every instance to investigate and attempt to adjust
controversies, or to take assignments of wage claims, but he or she
shall be deemed vested with discretion in such matters.

7. (a) (i) A freelance worker alleging a violation of this article may
bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction for damages.

(ii) Any action alleging a violation of subdivision three of this
section shall be brought within two years after the acts alleged to have
violated this article occurred.

(iii) Any action alleging a violation of subdivision two of this
section or subdivision four of this section shall be brought within six
years after the acts alleged to have violated this article occurred.

(iv) Within ten days after having commenced a civil action pursuant to
this subdivision, a plaintiff shall serve a copy of the complaint upon
an authorized representative of the commissioner. Failure to so serve a
complaint does not adversely affect any plaintiff's cause of action.

(v) A plaintiff who solely alleges a violation of subdivision three of
this section must prove that such plaintiff requested a written contract
before the contracted work began.

(b) (i) A plaintiff who prevails on a claim alleging a violation of
subdivision two of this section shall be awarded damages as described in
this subdivision and an award of reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.

(ii) (A) A plaintiff who prevails on a claim alleging a violation of
subdivision three of this section shall be awarded statutory damages of
two hundred fifty dollars.

(B) A plaintiff who prevails on a claim alleging a violation of this
section and on one or more claims under other provisions of this article
shall be awarded statutory damages equal to the value of the underlying
contract for the violation in addition to the remedies specified in this
article for such other violations.

(iii) In addition to other damages awarded pursuant to this article, a
plaintiff who prevails on a claim alleging a violation of subdivision
two of this section is entitled to an award of double damages,
injunctive relief, and other such remedies as may be appropriate.

(iv) In addition to any other damages awarded pursuant to this
article, a plaintiff who prevails on a claim alleging a violation of
subdivision four of this section is entitled to statutory damages equal
to the value of the underlying contract for each violation arising under
such subdivision.

8. (a)(i) Where reasonable cause exists to believe that a hiring party
is engaged in a pattern or practice of violations of this article, the
attorney general may commence a civil action on behalf of the state in a
court of competent jurisdiction.

(ii) An action pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall be
commenced by filing a complaint setting forth facts relating to such
pattern or practice and requesting relief, which may include injunctive
relief, civil penalties, and any other appropriate relief.

(iii) Nothing in this paragraph prohibits:

(A) a person alleging a violation of this article from filing a civil
action based on the same facts as a civil action commenced by the
attorney general pursuant to this section; or

(B) the commissioner from sending a notice of complaint, unless
otherwise barred from doing so.

(b) In any civil action commenced pursuant to this subdivision, the
trier of fact may impose a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five
thousand dollars for a finding that a hiring party has engaged in a
pattern or practice of violations of this article. Any civil penalty so
recovered shall be paid into the general fund.

9. (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, any provision of a
contract purporting to waive rights under this section is void as
against public policy.

(b) The provisions of this section supplement, and do not diminish or
replace, any other basis of liability or requirement established by
statute or common law.

(c) Failure to comply with the provisions of this section does not
render any contract between a hiring party and a freelance worker void
or voidable or otherwise impair any obligation, claim or right related
to such contract or constitute a defense to any action or proceeding to
enforce, or for breach of, such contract.

(d) No provision of this section relating to freelance workers shall
be construed as providing a determination about the legal classification
of any such worker as an employee or independent contractor.

10. The department shall conduct a public awareness outreach campaign,
which shall include making information available on its website,
otherwise informing hiring parties of the provisions of this section,
and establishing a means for assistance by a natural person through
phone and e-mail.

11. (a) No later than six months after the commissioner sends to a
freelance worker either a hiring party's response and accompanying
materials or a notice of non-response pursuant to section one hundred
ninety-six-a of this article, the commissioner shall send the freelance
worker a survey requesting additional information about the resolution
of the freelance worker's claims. Such survey shall ask whether or not
the freelance worker pursued any such claims in court or through an
alternative dispute resolution process and whether or not the hiring
party ultimately paid any or all of the compensation the freelance
worker alleged was due or if the matter was resolved in a different
manner. Such survey shall state clearly that response to the survey is
voluntary.

(b) The commissioner shall collect and track information about
complaints alleging violations of this article. The information
collected shall include, at minimum:

(i) the identity of the hiring party alleged to have violated this
article;

(ii) the freelance worker's occupation;

(iii) the section of this article that was alleged to have been
violated;

(iv) the value of the contract;

(v) the response or non-response from the hiring party; and

(vi) information from a completed survey identified in paragraph (a)
of this subdivision.

(c) One year after the effective date of this section, and every fifth
year thereafter by November first, the commissioner shall submit to the
legislature and publish on its website a report regarding the
effectiveness of the applicable provisions of this article at improving
freelance contracting and payment practices. Such report shall include,
at a minimum:

(i) the number of complaints the commissioner has received pursuant to
such provisions;

(ii) the value of the contracts disaggregated into ranges of five
hundred dollars and by section of this article alleged to have been
violated;

(iii) the numbers of responses and non-responses received by the
commissioner disaggregated by contract value into ranges of five hundred
dollars and by section of this article alleged to have been violated;

(iv) the proportion of surveys received from freelance workers that
indicate that they pursued their claims in court and the proportion of
surveys received from freelance workers that indicate that they pursued
their claims through an alternative dispute resolution process and a
summary of the outcomes of such cases; and

(v) legislative recommendations, including consideration of whether
certain occupations should be exempted from the scope of the definition
of freelance worker in this section.

* NB Effective and Repealed May 19, 2024