Governor Hochul Proposes New York Labor Law Amendment to End Pay Frequency Claims

Quick Hits

• Governor Hochul has proposed an amendment to the New York Labor Law that aligns with the holding of Grant v. Global Aircraft Dispatch, Inc., issued by the Second Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division, which found there was no private right of action for pay frequency claims.
• The proposed amendment could put an end to pay frequency lawsuits.

Governor Hochul has suggested a modification to NYLL Section 198(1-a) that would clarify that an employee is not entitled to liquidated damages for pay frequency violations “where the employee was paid in accordance with the agreed terms of employment, but not less frequently than semi-monthly.”

In September 2019, the New York Appellate Division, First Department ruled in Vega v. CM & Associates Construction Management, LLC, that the provision of a private right of action for the nonpayment or underpayment of wages under NYLL Section 198(1-a) applied to a failure to pay timely wages, which permitted plaintiffs to argue that they were entitled to liquidated damages in the full amount of the “untimely” wages. The Vega ruling resulted in an influx of litigation related to pay frequency claims.

On January 17, 2024, the Second Department ruled in Grant v. Global Aircraft Dispatch, Inc., that manual workers do not have a private right of action for alleged violations of the state labor law requirement that they be paid weekly. The decision marks a departure from the Vega decision of 2019.

Ogletree Deakins’ New York office will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the New York and Wage and Hour blogs.

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