As a reminder, the New York Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA) requires all employers to provide their New York employees with an annual written notice identifying each employee’s wage rate and related information. Specifically, the notice must include:

the employee’s rate of pay (regular rate and overtime rate for non-exempt employees);
any allowances claimed as part of the minimum wage;
the employer’s regular pay day; and
the employer’s official name, main office address/mailing address, telephone number, and any D/B/As.

Notices are due this Friday, February 1, 2013. Notices must be provided in English and in the employee’s primary language if the employee’s primary language is Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Russian or Hatian-Creole. Failure to provide the notices may result in penalties up to $50 per week per employee, to a maximum of $2,500 per employee. Sample notices and answers to frequently asked questions are available on the New York State Department Of Labor’s website.

*Note About The Sample DOL Forms: Although Section 7 of the form, for exempt employees, provides an option for the employer to indicate the applicable exemption, we recommend against doing so. Also, employers who do not wish to use the sample forms may use their own, so long as it contains all of the necessary information and is translated for employees whose primary language is one of the languages listed above.

The WTPA also requires employers to obtain signed acknowledgements from all employees stating that the employer provided the required information. Acknowledgements must be kept on file for six (6) years, even if the employee separates from the company.

The above information is only a summary of the WTPA notice and recordkeeping requirements. For a more detailed summary of all of the WTPA requirements see the link below to the Kelley Drye Advisory.

It’s That Time Again, Have You Prepared Your New York Wage Theft Prevention Act Notices?