New York Labor Law Amendment Limits Damages for ‘Frequency

New York recently passed an amendment to New York Labor Law (NYLL) § 198(1-a) that significantly limits the available damages for a violation of NYLL § 191(1)(a) in a “frequency-of-pay” lawsuit.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF FREQUENCY-OF-PAY ACTIONS IN NEW YORK

NYLL § 191(1)(a) requires that manual workers be “paid weekly and not later than seven calendar days after the end of the week in which wages are earned.”

On September 10, 2019, New York’s Appellate Division, First Department (Appellate Division) issued a significant wage and hour decision in the context of frequency-of-pay actions. In Vega v. CM & Associates Construction Management LLC , the Appellate Division held that “manual workers” who were paid in full, but on a biweekly or later basis, maintained a private cause of action a