The New York State Senate is poised to pass an employee-friendly bill that would amend New York’s lien law to enable employees to, upon filing a wage claim, obtain a temporary lien against their employer’s (or alleged employer’s) assets. A substantially similar bill was passed by the New York State Assembly and Senate in 2019 (S2844B) but vetoed by then-Governor Cuomo in early 2020.
Assembly Bill A766, referred to as the Securing Wages Earned Against Theft (SWEAT) bill, would empower workers to obtain an “employee’s lien” against an “employer”1 upon asserting a “wage claim.” The term “wage claim” is broadly defined as:
…a claim that an employee has suffered a violation of sections one hundred seventy, one hundred ninety-three, one hundred ninety-six-d, six hundred fifty-two or six hundred seventy-three of the [New York Labor Law] or the related regulations and wage orders promulgated by the commissioner, a claim for wages due to an employee pursuant to an employment contract that were unpaid in violation of the contract, or a claim that an employee has suffered a violation of 29 U.S.C. § 206 or 207.
It is unclear under the SWEAT bill whether an employee must affirmatively file a lawsuit, or actually file a claim with the Commission of Labor in order to obtain a lien, or whether an accusation alone is sufficient. Regardless, the SWEAT bill would permit an employee to obtain an “employee’s lien” without proving, or even making a threshold evidentiary showing, that the...
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