Between January 1 and February 1, 2013, New York employers must once again provide all current employees with their annual Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA) notices containing the following information:
- The employee’s rate or rates of pay
- The regular hourly rate and overtime rate of pay
- The basis of pay (e.g., by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission)
- Allowances, if any, claimed as part of the minimum wage, including tip, meal or lodging allowances
- The regular pay day
- The employer’s name
- Any “doing business as” names used by the employer
- The physical address of the employer’s main office or principal place of business (and a mailing address if different)
- The employer’s telephone number
Employers must obtain and retain for six (6) years each employee’s signed and dated written acknowledgment of receipt of the notice. The acknowledgment must include an affirmation by the employee that the employee accurately identified his or her primary language to the employer, and that the notice provided by the employer was in that language.
Employers must provide the written notices in English and in the employee’s primary language (if the NYSDOL offers a translation). The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) has prepared dual language notice templates for employers to use, which can be found on the NYSDOL’s website.
Employers do not have to use the NYSDOL’s templates, and may develop their own notices so long as they contain all of the information required by the law. Notices may be provided electronically, so long as the employee can acknowledge receipt of the notice and print out a copy for their records.
This will mark the second time New York employers will have to distribute the annual notices since the WTPA took effect April 9, 2011. The WTPA also requires New York employers distribute written notices at the time of hire, and before a change in wage rate under certain circumstances.