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State Senate passes Ritchie-sponsored bill to repeal requirement that businesses give employees written notice of wage rates

Posted 3/4/12

The State Senate has passed a bill that would repeal a controversial measure requiring New York businesses to give written notice of wage rates to employees. The repeal measure, S.6063-A, cosponsored …

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State Senate passes Ritchie-sponsored bill to repeal requirement that businesses give employees written notice of wage rates

Posted

The State Senate has passed a bill that would repeal a controversial measure requiring New York businesses to give written notice of wage rates to employees.

The repeal measure, S.6063-A, cosponsored by state Sen. Patty Ritchie, repeals part of the 2010 Wage Theft Prevention Act that requires employers to provide a detailed “notice of wages” to every employee annually. The law requires businesses to keep a written acknowledgement of receipt from every employee for six years.

The Wage Theft Prevention Act, which went into effect last April, was aimed at ensuring that workers get their full pay and are not retaliated against if they complain.

But businesses complained about the paperwork involved in complying with the law.

“This law forces companies across New York State to spend money preparing, collecting and storing paperwork that even the Labor Department concedes isn’t necessary,” Ritchie said.

“This provision is another example of a solution in search of a problem, and it creates an unneeded and expensive burden on businesses when we should be doing all we can to help them lower costs and create jobs.”

Sen. Ritchie said she was influenced in her decision to back the bill after hearing about the new requirement from a local business owner, Robert R. Sturtz, president of Slack Chemical Company in Carthage.

Ritchie, a Republican from Heuvelton, is state senator from the 48th District, which includes western St. Lawrence County, and Jefferson and Oswego counties.

According to a statement from Ritchie’s office, with 7.3 million people employed in New York State, the requirement means that businesses must create and maintain 51 million pages of paper each year.

“This law is another example of the former attitude of state government that said that no burden is too great for small businesses and our economy to bear. And it’s a repeal will be another strong sign that, as Gov. Cuomo likes to say, New York is once again open for business and creating jobs.”

The bill was sent to the Assembly.