2019 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  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.  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; and net wages. 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; and net wages for each employee.
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.