NY Lab L § 195 (2021)
2021 New York Laws LAB - Labor Article 6 - Payment of Wages 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.