The New York Wage Theft Prevention Act requires employers to provide annual wage notices to all employees no later than February 1, 2014. The notice must include the following:

•    the employee’s rate(s) of pay, including the overtime rate, if any;
•    the basis of wage payment (e.g., hour, shift, day, week, piece, etc.);
•    the designated pay day;
•    any tip or meal allowances;
•    the employer’s name and any “doing business as” names;
•    the telephone number and the physical address of the employer’s main office; and
•    the company’s mailing address, if different.

The notice also must be provided in the employee’s primary language, as identified by the employee, and if Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Creole, Polish, or Russian, through a translated notice. In addition to annual notices, employers must provide similar wage notices at the time of hiring and within seven days of a change in any of the data on the notice if not included on the employee’s pay stub. Templates of English and non-English forms and a link to a FAQs page are available on the New York State Department of Labor’s website.

Note: This article was published in the December 2013 issue of the New York eAuthority.