In a significant development for New York employers, the New York State Legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul have agreed to amend the New York Labor Law (NYLL) to limit the damages available in so-called “frequency-of-pay” actions brought by employees alleging that their employer failed to pay them wages within the time frame set forth by the applicable statute. The majority of these claims are brought by “manual workers,” as Section 191 of the NYLL requires employers to pay manual workers weekly—“not later than seven calendar days after the end of the week in which the wages are earned.”¹ This amendment, which applies expressly to pending actions, introduces a tiered structure for calculating damages and aims to address longstanding concerns about employer liability under the NYLL. Significantly, it provides a measure of relief for employers that have taken proactive measures to comply with NYLL § 191 (1)(a), but still face potential liability given New York’s six-year statute of limitations.

History of Frequency-of-Pay Actions in New York State

Following the New York State Appellate Division, First Department’s 2019 decision in Vega v. CM & Associates Construction Management, LLC, 175 AD3d 1144 (2019), a flood of frequency-of-pay class action litigation targeted New York State employers that paid alleged manual workers on a bi-weekly instead of weekly basis. Prior to Vega, employees could not bring a civil action for frequency-of-pay violations, and compliance with...

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