The “wage theft prevention act” which passed in 2010, has gained state attention in the last week. The “wage theft prevention act” requires that employees receive yearly pay notices, proper wage statements, and be free from retaliation for complaining about possible violations of the labor law.
It has been highly discussed because all employers were supposed to have all current employees sign the form by Feb 1, 2012. The LS form is supposed to be signed by all employees between Jan 1- and Feb 1 each year. If an employee’s pay changes during the year, they would then be required to file a new form. Also, at the time of hiring a new employee they would be required to fill out a new form.
You can find these forms at:
The law serves a very good purpose in providing employees greater protection in regards to wages and retaliation. New York State has spent the past 5 years chasing companies who have mis-paid employees either for overtime or taken out allowances improperly.
The problem is that most employers are having a rough time getting these forms signed during this time period since most companies have year-end work to do at that time, such as distributing W-2 forms.
Employers: Good news may be on the horizon. A bill to ditch the mandate passed out of the senate labor committee this past week. The committee sites that employers must post all information on pay slips and also that employees are able to discuss any problems with their HR contact. The redundancy of these forms, the burden it places on companies and the costs associated with these forms has a bi-partisan backing to get rid of the new mandate.
A full description of the law can be found here:
More to come on this topic.