N.Y. Labor Law § 195: Notice and record-keeping requirements

§ 195. Notice and record-keeping requirements. Every employer shall:

1. (a) provide his or her employees, in writing in English and in the

language identified by each employee as the primary language of such

employee, at the time of hiring, a notice containing the following

information: the rate or rates of pay and basis thereof, whether paid by

the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission, or other;

allowances, if any, claimed as part of the minimum wage, including tip,

meal, or lodging allowances; the benefit portion of the minimum rate of

home care aide total compensation as defined in section thirty-six

hundred fourteen-c of the public health law ("home care aide benefits"),

if applicable; prevailing wage supplements, if any, claimed as part of

any prevailing wage or similar requirement pursuant to article eight of

this chapter; the regular pay day designated by the employer in

accordance with section one hundred ninety-one of this article; the name

of the employer; 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 telephone number of

the employer; plus such other information as the commissioner deems

material and necessary. Where such prevailing wage supplements are

claimed, or such home care aide benefits are provided, the notice shall

identify, for each type of supplement claimed or each type of home care

aide benefits provided: (i) the hourly rate claimed; (ii) the type of

supplement or type of home care aide benefits, including when

applicable, but not limited to, pension or healthcare; (iii) the names

and addresses of the person or entity providing such supplement or such

home care aide benefits; and (iv) the agreement, if any, requiring or

providing for such supplement or such home care aide benefits, together

with information on how copies of such agreements or summaries thereof

may be obtained by an employee. Each time the employer provides such

notice to an employee, the employer shall obtain from the employee a

signed and dated written acknowledgement, in English and in the primary

language of the employee, of receipt of this notice, which the employer

shall preserve and maintain for six years. Such acknowledgement shall

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 to such employee pursuant to this

subdivision was in the language so identified or otherwise complied with

paragraph (c) of this subdivision, and shall conform to any additional

requirements established by the commissioner with regard to content and

form. For all employees who are not exempt from overtime compensation as

established in the commissioner's minimum wage orders or otherwise

provided by New York state law or regulation, the notice must state the

regular hourly rate and overtime rate of pay;

(b) The commissioner shall prepare templates that comply with the

requirements of paragraph (a) of this subdivision. Each such template

shall be dual-language, including English and one additional language.

The commissioner shall determine, in his or her discretion, which

languages to provide in addition to English, based on the size of the

New York state population that speaks each language and any other factor

that the commissioner shall deem relevant. All such templates shall be

made available to employers in such manner as determined by the

commissioner;

(c) When an employee identifies as his or her primary language a

language for which a template is not available from the commissioner,

the employer shall comply with this subdivision by providing that

employee an English-language notice or acknowledgment;

(d) An employer shall not be penalized for errors or omissions in the

non-English portions of any notice provided by the commissioner;

(e) The commissioner shall have discretion to waive or alter

requirements of paragraph (a) of this subdivision for temporary help

firms as defined in section nine hundred sixteen of this chapter.

2. notify his or her employees in writing of any changes to the

information set forth in subdivision one of this section, at least seven

calendar days prior to the time of such changes, unless such changes are

reflected on the wage statement furnished in accordance with subdivision

three of this section;

3. furnish each employee with a statement with every payment of wages,

listing the following: the dates of work covered by that payment of

wages; name of employee; name of employer; address and phone number of

employer; rate or rates of pay and basis thereof, whether paid by the

hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission, or other; gross

wages; deductions; allowances, if any, claimed as part of the minimum

wage; the benefit portion of the minimum rate of home care aide total

compensation as defined in section thirty-six hundred fourteen-c of the

public health law ("home care aide benefits"), if applicable; prevailing

wage supplements, if any, claimed as part of any prevailing wage or

similar requirement pursuant to article eight of this chapter; and net

wages. Where such prevailing wage supplements are claimed, or such home

care aide benefits are provided, the statement shall either: (i)

identify the type of each supplement claimed, or the type of each home

care aide benefits provided, and the hourly rate for each; or (ii) be

accompanied by a copy of the applicable notice required under

subdivisions one and two of this section. For all employees who are not

exempt from overtime compensation as established in the commissioner's

minimum wage orders or otherwise provided by New York state law or

regulation, the statement shall include the regular hourly rate or rates

of pay; the overtime rate or rates of pay; the number of regular hours

worked, and the number of overtime hours worked. For all employees paid

a piece rate, the statement shall include the applicable piece rate or

rates of pay and number of pieces completed at each piece rate. Upon the

request of an employee, an employer shall furnish an explanation in

writing of how such wages were computed;

3-a. in addition, every railroad corporation shall furnish each

employee with a statement with every payment of wages listing accrued

total earnings and taxes to date and further furnish said employee at

the same time with a separate listing of his daily wages and how they

were computed;

4. establish, maintain and preserve for not less than six years

contemporaneous, true, and accurate payroll records showing for each

week worked the hours worked; the rate or rates of pay and basis

thereof, whether paid by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece,

commission, or other; gross wages; deductions; allowances, if any,

claimed as part of the minimum wage; amount of sick leave provided to

each employee; the benefit portion of the minimum rate of home care aide

total compensation as defined in section thirty-six hundred fourteen-c

of the public health law ("home care aide benefits"), if applicable;

prevailing wage supplements, if any, claimed as part of any prevailing

wage or similar requirement pursuant to article eight of this chapter;

and net wages for each employee. Where such prevailing wage supplements

are claimed, or such home care aide benefits are provided, the payroll

records shall include copies of all notices required by subdivisions one

and two of this section. For all employees who are not exempt from

overtime compensation as established in the commissioner's minimum wage

orders or otherwise provided by New York state law or regulation, the

payroll records shall include the regular hourly rate or rates of pay,

the overtime rate or rates of pay, the number of regular hours worked,

and the number of overtime hours worked. For all employees paid a piece

rate, the payroll records shall include the applicable piece rate or

rates of pay and number of pieces completed at each piece rate;

5. notify his employees in writing or by publicly posting the

employer's policy on sick leave, vacation, personal leave, holidays and

hours.

6. notify any employee terminated from employment, in writing, of the

exact date of such termination as well as the exact date of cancellation

of employee benefits connected with such termination. In no case shall

notice of such termination be provided more than five working days after

the date of such termination. Failure to notify an employee of

cancellation of accident or health insurance subjects an employer to an

additional penalty pursuant to section two hundred seventeen of this

chapter.