New York Labor Law Wage Deduction Amendments Extended Through 2018

On the eve of  November 6, 2015 expiration date, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation earlier this week (Assembly Bill A07594/S05623) extending the effective date for the expanded list of permissible wage deductions that New York employers can make pursuant to New York Labor Law Section 193.  The current version of Section 193, which was amended in 2012, includes a wide range of categories of wage deductions that employers can withhold from employee wages, subject to employee approval.  Such permissible deductions include discounted parking passes, daycare expenses and gym membership dues, among others.  Potentially most useful for employers is their right under the amended Section 193 to recover for overpayments of wages to employees that resulted from mathematical or other clerical errors.

Earlier this year, we wrote in detail about the interplay of Section 193 and an employer’s wholesale failure to pay wages, available here.  While multiple Courts have determined that a total failure to pay does not constitute a violation of Section 193, in any event, New York employers will continue to enjoy the increased flexibility afforded under the amended version of Section 193 through its new effective date of November 6, 2018.