BILL NUMBER: S2078
SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law and the criminal procedure law, in
relation to business license suspensions resulting from wage theft
 
PURPOSE OF BILL:
To deter wage theft by permitting the Commissioner of Labor to direct
the relevant agency to suspend or deny to an employer convicted of wage
theft a license to do business in the state for up to two years, and to
provide courts with a mechanism to ensure that ongoing wage theft does
not occur while a charge of wage theft is pending prosecution.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 190 of the Labor Law to add definitions for
"successor business," "agency," and "license."
Section 2 amends subdivision one of section 196 of the Labor Law to add
a new paragraph f which requires the Commissioner of Labor, upon notifi-
cation by the court of the conviction of an employer for wage theft, to
direct the suspension of the employer's license to do business in the
state; outlines the process to be followed by the Commissioner upon
being so notified in order to determine whether and for how long such
employer's license to do business should be suspended, up to but not
exceeding two years; and sets out due process protections for the
employer including notice and an opportunity to be heard. This section
also requires the court to notify the Commissioner of Labor of an
employer's conviction for wage theft.
Section 3 amends section 198-a of the Labor Law by adding new subdivi-
sions 4 and 5 to permit a court to prohibit an employer charged with
wage theft from applying for a license to operate a business under a
different business name and/or opening or operating a successor business
engaged in the same or equivalent trade or activity for the pendency of
the criminal proceeding, and to require the court to notify the Commis-
sioner of Labor when an employer is convicted of wage theft under this
section.
Section 4 amends section 662 of the Labor Law by adding new subdivisions
3 and 4 to permit a court to prohibit an employer charged with wage
theft from applying for a license to operate a business under a differ-
ent business name and/or opening or operating a successor business
engaged in the same or equivalent trade or activity for the pendency of
the criminal proceeding, and to require the court to notify the Commis-
sioner of Labor when an employer is convicted of wage theft under this
section.
Section 5 amends the Criminal Procedure Law by adding a new section
380.98 which requires the court to notify the Commissioner of Labor upon
judgment of conviction of an employer for wage theft.
Section 6 amends subdivision 3-a of section 500.10 of the Criminal
Procedure Law by adding a new paragraph (k) which permits the court to
prohibit an employer charged with wage theft from applying for a license
to operate a business under a different business name and/or opening or
operating a successor business engaged in the same or equivalent trade
or activity for the pendency of the criminal proceeding.
Section 7 amends the Criminal Procedure Law by adding a new section
530.15 which permits the court, when a criminal action charging wage
theft is pending against an employer, to prohibit the employer so
charged from applying for a license to operate a business under a
different business name and/or opening or operating a successor business
engaged in the same or equivalent trade or activity for the pendency of
the criminal proceeding.
Section 8 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:;
New York's Wage Theft Protection Act, passed in 2010, aimed to ensure
that hardworking New Yorkers had recourse under the law if their employ-
er failed to pay their wages (L. 2010, ch. 564). Along with requiring
clear notice to employees of pay rates and the employer's identity, and
strengthening payroll and recordkeeping requirements, the Act gave the
Commissioner of Labor increased enforcement powers and enhanced the
penalties for employers who fail to comply or engage in retaliation. In
2021, the Labor Law was amended by the No Wage Theft Loophole Act, which
clarified that New York's Labor Law "completely and without exception"
prohibits failure to pay earned wages and imposes liability on the
employer (L. 2021, ch. 397). In 2023, the Penal Law was amended to
include wage theft in the definition of criminal larceny and to allow
prosecutors to seek stronger penalties against employers who steal wages
from workers (L. 2023, ch. 353).
Despite these and other efforts by the legislature to ensure that work-
ers' wages are not withheld or stolen, unscrupulous employers continue
to find ways around the law. In 2024, a Westchester contractor was
charged and convicted of wage theft after three separate arrests for
failing to pay wages between December 2020 and February 2023. The
contractor continued to operate and opened a new business under a
different name, even while the criminal case was pending.1
This bill would provide the Department of Labor with additional tools to
prevent wage theft by providing for the suspension of an employer's
license to do business in the state upon a conviction of wage theft. It
would further prevent unscrupulous employers from evading the law by
including any successor business in the suspension, and by allowing a
court to prohibit an employer from applying for a license under a
different business name and/or from opening or operating a successor
business while a criminal prosecution on a charge of wage theft is pend-
ing.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S9951, Referred to Rules.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
1 Westchester County District Attorney, New Rochelle Contractor
Convicted and Sentenced for Failing to Pay Eight Workers More Than
$31,500 in Wages, July 31, 2024, available at
https://www.westchesterda.net/july-2024/7103-new-rochelle- contractor-
convicted-and-sentenced-for-failing-to-pay-eight-workers-
more-31-500-in-wages (visited 10/23/24); Amir Khafagy, Contractor Still
Operates Despite Stealing Thousands in Wages from Immigrant Workers,
Documented, August 16, 2024, available at
https://documentednv.com/2024/08/16/wage-theft-contractor-workers-fuerte
-westchester/ (visited 10/23/24).

Statutes affected:
S2078: 190 labor law, 196 labor law, 196(1) labor law, 198-a labor law, 662 labor law, 500.10 criminal procedure law, 500.10(3-a) criminal procedure law