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The New York State Legislature last week proposed three new bills that would make it harder for wage theft offenders to do business in the state.
The bill would give state agencies more power to crack down on wage theft by revoking violators' liquor and business licenses and issuing work stoppage orders.
The bill was enacted in response to reports of widespread wage theft against New York workers, including two studies published by Documented and ProPublica. This article reveals that more than 127,000 New Yorkers were victims of wage theft over the past five years, but the New York State Department of Labor failed to recover $79 million in unpaid wages owed to workers. Ta.
This article is based on an analysis of two databases of wage theft violations obtained from the United States and New York Departments of Labor. The database provided previously unreported details about how much money was stolen from workers and also revealed which companies were committing wage theft.
“We knew from our conversations with workers and the number of constituent outreach cases that wage theft was a chronic problem,” said Democratic Sen. Jessica Ramos, who sponsored the bill. . “Until last year's ProPublica and Documented series, we didn't have the data to understand the scale of New York State's problem. With this report as a tool, we were better equipped to put together this package. We focused on the capabilities of the Ministry of Labor.
The bill, which lawmakers are calling the “Wage Theft Suppression Package,” includes three bills and is co-sponsored in the state Assembly by Rep. Kenny Burgos, Rep. Harvey Epstein and Rep. Linda Rosenthal.
The first bill, S8451, would give the New York State Liquor Authority the power to suspend the liquor licenses of bars and restaurants that the Department of Labor determines pay workers more than $1,000 in unpaid wages. He stole more than $52 million from people working in New York restaurants, more than any other industry, according to an analysis by Documented and ProPublica. The amount of unpaid wages accounted for more than 25% of all reported wage theft in the state. Similar measures have been successful in other parts of the country, with California's Santa Clara County recovering $110,000 for workers since 2019.
The second bill, S8452, would allow the Department of Labor to issue cease-and-desist orders to businesses with allegations of wage theft of at least $1,000. This approach has proven successful in other states, including New Jersey, which temporarily closed 27 Boston Market restaurants and ended up paying more than $630,000 in unpaid wages for 314 workers. was recovered. Boston Market did not respond to a request for comment.
The third bill, S8453, would allow the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to suspend a business's certificate of authority (which allows it to collect sales taxes and operate a business) if wage theft exceeds $1,000.
The three bills include provisions that would allow employers to avoid penalties if they resolve wage theft claims within 15 days.
Ramos' office told Documented and ProPublica that it is too early to gauge other lawmakers' level of support for the bill introduced Wednesday. But Ramos and Rosenthal, Democrats who represent Manhattan's Upper West Side and the Clinton District, have great influence in Congress, as they chair powerful committees, the Labor and Housing Committees, respectively. have. And Ramos' office says the bill has support from the state Department of Labor.
“Each year, more than $1 billion is stolen from the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers by unscrupulous employers, often targeting workers who have the least resources to fight back,” Rosenthal said. “When companies refuse to do the right thing and pay their employees what they are owed, New York State should hold them accountable.”
The bills were praised by labor advocates and urban studies scholars, including James Parrott, director of economic and fiscal policy at the New School's Center on New York City Affairs. “These bills are necessary to further strengthen New York State's enforcement efforts,” Parrott said. “We owe it to hard-working, low-wage workers and law-abiding employers.”
