MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT

S.7818 – Ramos (Senate Finance Committee)

A.9281 – Bronson (Assembly Labor Committee)

AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the New York State worker protection and labor law enforcement fund

This memorandum is submitted by New Yorkers for Local Businesses (NYLB), a statewide coalition of small business workers, managers and like-minded organizations fighting for policies that will create and retain jobs and make New York more affordable for doing business. Our goal is to uplift and strengthen small businesses, the foundation of local economies across New York State.

This legislation amends the State Finance Law to create the New York State Worker Protection and Labor Law Enforcement Fund. The fund would consist of all monetary damages and penalties recovered by the Department of Labor for employer violations of various wage provisions of the Labor Law. It also requires Department of Labor to submit an annual report to the legislature outlining the expenses of the fund, the number of staff paid for with the fund’s resources, the number of enforcement proceedings initiated, and the amount collected from substantiated violations of the law.

The Department of Labor’s existing investigation and enforcement abilities have diminished over time as staffing support has waned. With reductions in workforce and staffing, laws that have been enacted to protect workers from wage theft and other violations have not been allocated the necessary resources. Enactment of this bill would empower the New York State Department of Labor to hire additional staff to investigate alleged labor law violations by employers by establishing a dedicated and recurring funding stream for investigation and enforcement purposes using funds from penalties already imposed under the law.

Protection from wage theft is vital and the Department of Labor must be able to fully investigate and enforce any complaints received from workers. Dedicating dollars to this cause will ensure that the Department is able to hire and deploy staff for this important effort, deterring bad actors from exploiting their workers. As such, NYLB supports the passage of this legislation.