New York State Assembly

 
•  Summary 
 
•  Actions 
 
•  Floor Votes 
 
•  Memo 
 
•  Text 

A10785 Summary:

A10785 Actions:

A10785 Floor Votes:

A10785 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          10785
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                      June 18, 2012
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Morelle) --
          (at request of the Governor) -- read once and referred to the  Commit-
          tee on Labor
 
        AN  ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to permitted deductions from
          wages; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration
          thereof
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-

        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1. Subdivision 1 of section 193 of the labor law, as added by
     2  chapter 548 of the laws of 1966, is amended to read as follows:
     3    1. No employer shall make any deduction from the wages of an employee,
     4  except deductions which:
     5    a. are made in accordance with the provisions of any law or  any  rule
     6  or  regulation  issued  by any governmental agency including regulations
     7  promulgated under paragraph c and paragraph d of this subdivision; or
     8    b. are expressly authorized in writing by the employee and are for the
     9  benefit of the employee[;], provided that such authorization  is  volun-
    10  tary  and only given following receipt by the employee of written notice
    11  of all terms and conditions of the payment and/or its benefits  and  the

    12  details  of the manner in which deductions will be made.  Whenever there
    13  is a substantial change in the  terms  or  conditions  of  the  payment,
    14  including but not limited to, any change in the amount of the deduction,
    15  or  a substantial change in the benefits of the deduction or the details
    16  in the manner in which deductions shall be made, the employer shall,  as
    17  soon  as practicable, but in each case before any increased deduction is
    18  made on the employee's behalf, notify the employee prior to  the  imple-
    19  mentation  of  the change.   Such authorization shall be kept on file on
    20  the employer's premises for the period  during  which  the  employee  is
    21  employed  by  the employer and for six years after such employment ends.

    22  Notwithstanding the foregoing,  employee  authorization  for  deductions
    23  under  this section may also be provided to the employer pursuant to the
    24  terms of a collective bargaining agreement. Such  authorized  deductions
    25  shall be limited to payments for:
    26    (i) insurance premiums[,] and prepaid legal plans;
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD12164-01-2
        A. 10785                            2
 
     1    (ii) pension or health and welfare benefits[,];

     2    (iii) contributions to a bona fide charitable [organizations, payments
     3  for] organization;
     4    (iv)  purchases  made  at  events  sponsored by a bona fide charitable
     5  organization affiliated with the employer where at least twenty  percent
     6  of  the  profits  from  such  event are being contributed to a bona fide
     7  charitable organization;
     8    (v) United States bonds[, payments for];
     9    (vi) dues or assessments to a labor organization[,];
    10    (vii) discounted parking or discounted  passes,  tokens,  fare  cards,
    11  vouchers, or other items that entitle the employee to use mass transit;
    12    (viii) fitness center, health club, and/or gym membership dues;

    13    (ix)  cafeteria  and  vending machine purchases made at the employer's
    14  place of business and purchases made  at  gift  shops  operated  by  the
    15  employer, where the employer is a hospital, college, or university;
    16    (x) pharmacy purchases made at the employer's place of business;
    17    (xi)  tuition, room, board, and fees for pre-school, nursery, primary,
    18  secondary, and/or post-secondary educational institutions;
    19    (xii) day care, before-school and after-school care expenses;
    20    (xiii) payments for housing provided at no more than market  rates  by
    21  non-profit hospitals or affiliates thereof; and
    22    (xiv) similar payments for the benefit of the employee.
    23    c. are related to recovery of an overpayment of wages where such over-

    24  payment  is due to a mathematical or other clerical error by the employ-
    25  er. In making such recoveries, the  employer  shall  comply  with  regu-
    26  lations   promulgated  by  the  commissioner  for  this  purpose,  which
    27  regulations shall include, but not be limited to, provisions  governing:
    28  the  size  of  overpayments  that  may  be  covered by this section; the
    29  timing, frequency, duration, and method of such recovery; limitations on
    30  the periodic amount of such  recovery;  a  requirement  that  notice  be
    31  provided  to  the employee prior to the commencement of such recovery; a
    32  requirement that the employer implement a procedure  for  disputing  the
    33  amount  of  such  overpayment  or  seeking to delay commencement of such

    34  recovery; the terms and content of such a procedure  and  a  requirement
    35  that notice of the procedure for disputing the overpayment or seeking to
    36  delay commencement of such recovery be provided to the employee prior to
    37  the commencement of such recovery.
    38    d.  repayment  of  advances of salary or wages made by the employer to
    39  the employee. Deductions to cover  such  repayments  shall  be  made  in
    40  accordance  with  regulations  promulgated  by the commissioner for this
    41  purpose, which  regulations  shall  include,  but  not  be  limited  to,
    42  provisions  governing:  the  timing,  frequency, duration, and method of
    43  such repayment; limitations on the periodic amount of such repayment;  a

    44  requirement  that  notice  be  provided  to  the  employee  prior to the
    45  commencement of such repayment; a requirement that the  employer  imple-
    46  ment  a  procedure for disputing the amount of such repayment or seeking
    47  to delay commencement of such repayment; the terms and content of such a
    48  procedure and a requirement that notice of the procedure  for  disputing
    49  the  repayment  or  seeking  to  delay commencement of such repayment be
    50  provided to the employee at the time the loan is made.
    51    § 2. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 193 of the labor law, subdivision
    52  2 as added and subdivision 3 as renumbered by chapter 160 of the laws of
    53  1974 and subdivision 3 as added by chapter 548 of the laws of 1966,  are
    54  amended to read as follows:

    55    2.  Deductions  made in conjunction with an employer sponsored pre-tax
    56  contribution plan approved by the IRS or other local  taxing  authority,
        A. 10785                            3
 
     1  including  those  falling within one or more of the categories set forth
     2  in paragraph b of subdivision one of this section, shall  be  considered
     3  to  have  been made in accordance with paragraph a of subdivision one of
     4  this section.
     5    3.  a.  No employer shall make any charge against wages, or require an
     6  employee to make any payment by separate transaction unless such  charge
     7  or  payment  is permitted as a deduction from wages under the provisions
     8  of subdivision one of this section or is permitted or required under any

     9  provision of a current collective bargaining agreement.
    10    b. Notwithstanding the existence of  employee  authorization  to  make
    11  deductions in accordance with subparagraphs (iv), (ix), and (x) of para-
    12  graph  b of subdivision one of this section and deductions determined by
    13  the commissioner to be similar to such  deductions  in  accordance  with
    14  subparagraph  (xiv)  of  paragraph b of subdivision one of this section,
    15  the total aggregate amount of such deductions for each pay period  shall
    16  be subject to the following limitations: (i) such aggregate amount shall
    17  not  exceed  a  maximum  aggregate limit established by the employer for
    18  each pay period; (ii) such aggregate amount shall not exceed  a  maximum

    19  aggregate  limit established by the employee, which limit may be for any
    20  amount (in ten dollar increments) up to the maximum  amount  established
    21  by  the  employer  under  subparagraph  (i) of this paragraph; (iii) the
    22  employer shall not permit  any  purchases  within  these  categories  of
    23  deduction by the employee that exceed the aggregate limit established by
    24  the employee or, if no limit has been set by the employee, the limit set
    25  by  the  employer;  (iv) the employee shall have access within the work-
    26  place to current account information detailing  individual  expenditures
    27  within  these  categories of deduction and a running total of the amount
    28  that will be deducted from the employee's pay during the next applicable

    29  pay period.  Information shall be available in printed form  or  capable
    30  of  being  printed  should  the  employee  wish  to obtain a listing. No
    31  employee may be charged any fee, directly or indirectly, for access  to,
    32  or printing of, such account information.
    33    c.  With  the exception of wage deductions required or authorized in a
    34  current existing collective bargaining agreement, an employee's authori-
    35  zation for any and all wage deductions may be revoked in writing at  any
    36  time.  The employer must cease the wage deduction for which the employee
    37  has revoked authorization as soon as practicable, and, in no event  more
    38  than  four  pay  periods or eight weeks after the authorization has been
    39  withdrawn, whichever is sooner.

    40    [3.] 4. Nothing in this section shall justify noncompliance with arti-
    41  cle three-A of the personal property law relating to assignment of earn-
    42  ings, [nor] with section two hundred twenty-one of this chapter relating
    43  to company stores or with any other law applicable  to  deductions  from
    44  wages.
    45    §  3.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
    46  have become a law and shall expire and be deemed repealed 3 years  after
    47  such effective date.