The New York Wage Theft Prevention Act (the "Act"), which went into effect on April 9, 2011, amends the New York Labor Law to impose new recordkeeping and notice obligations on the majority of employers operating within New York State, as well as expanding the civil and criminal remedies available when employers fail to comply with these provisions. Specifically, the Act requires that employers provide notice to employees of their rate(s) of pay, designated pay day, the employer's intent to claim allowances as part of minimum wage, all identifying, affiliate and contact information for the employer, which includes the name of the employer and any "doing business as" names used by the employer, and additional information that may be specified by the Commissioner of Labor. The notice must be provided in the employee's primary language, as identified by the employee, through translated notices provided by the Department of Labor. These notices are required at the time of hire, yearly between January 1 and February 1, and when there are changes in the information on the pay notices.

With respect to changes in the terms of an employee’s notice, the employer must provide notice of changes to the affected employees either in a separate written notice seven days in advance or in the detailed wage statement accompanying payment of wages. The employer is required to retain copies of these notices and a signed, dated acknowledgment of receipt from each employee for six years. The notices must be made available to the Department of Labor upon request.

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