New York to Increase Wage Protections for Executive, Administrative, and Professional Employees

Seyfarth Synopsis:  The New York State Legislature has passed a bill that increases the earnings threshold for executive, administrative, and professional employees to file a complaint with the New York Department of Labor for owed wages under Article 6 of the New York Labor Law.

Article 6 of the New York Labor Law, the State’s wage theft statute, sets forth various requirements relating to the payment of wages.  Among other things, the statute prohibits employers from unlawfully withholding wages from employees employed in the State.  If an employer violates Article 6, aggrieved employees may pursue a private action against the employer or file a complaint with the New York Department of Labor to recover the owed wages. 

However, the DOL previously rejected wage theft claims from executive, administrative, or professional employees making more than $900 per week.  Employees above this earnings threshold were solely limited to commencing a private action in civil court.

The bill, which will become effective 180 days after Governor Kathy Hochul’s expected signature, seeks to correct the “DOL’s inflexible approach to Article 6 enforcement” by increasing the weekly wage threshold for those employed in an executive, administrative, or professional capacity.  The bill increases the earning threshold from $900 to $1,300 per week.  As such,  executive, administrative, and professional employees making $1,300 or less per week will no longer be confined to commencing a lawsuit in civil court to recover owed wages.  The DOL will have the authority to receive complaints, commence an investigation, and recover owed wages for such employees. 

Importantly, the Bill does not alter the salary thresholds for classifying employees as exempt under the New York Labor Law.  The bill pertains only to the requirements for filing a complaint with the DOL for owed wages.  For more information about the minimum salary requirements for exempt status under the Labor Law, please see here.

In addition to increasing the weekly wage threshold, the bill makes clear that the following provisions under Article 6 will now apply to executive, administrative, and professional employees making less than $1,300 per week:

• Labor Law § 192 (cash payment of wages) – Requires employers to obtain advance employee consent for payment by direct deposit.
• Labor Law § 198-c (benefits or wage supplements) – Requires employers to timely pay all amounts and benefits owed to employees under company policy and sets forth penalties for an employer’s non-compliance.

Employers with operations in New York should consider revisiting their wage payment practices with respect to executive, administrative, and professional employees to ensure compliance with applicable requirements. 

Seyfarth will continue to monitor and report on the status of this New York bill.  In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to the authors of this alert – or your regular Seyfarth contact – if you have any questions.