On Tuesday New York State Labor Commissioner Cathleen Gardner was the keynote speaker at The Business Council’s HR and Legislative Conference. During her remarks she spoke at length about the wage theft law and how businesses across the state would be impacted.

Adam Sichko writes for the Business Review (subscription-base) - “New York state’s labor commissioner sought to reassure businesses that new wage mandates and penalties will not be an “unnecessary burden.”

Colleen Gardner, head of the Department of Labor, spoke about the issue of “wage theft,” when employers allegedly cheat workers out of pay or benefits they should have earned.

New rules took effect April 9 dictating how, and how often, all private-sector employers must provide pay details to all employees.”

To read more click here.

The long awaited information from the state labor department on employer’s implementation of the wage theft prevention act is now available on the labor department’s website. This new law affects all private sector employers in New York State and all employers must take action now.

A quick look will show you the information that you need to include on the notice to all new employee’s hired on or after the act’s April 9^th effective date. You may use your own form as long as all required information is included or you may use the forms provided by the labor department. Including this new information in a hire letter does not satisfy the requirements of the new law. It must be a separate form. For the labor department’s forms, just scroll down. You are also urged to read the labor department’s Frequently Asked Questions about the WTPA.

If you have new employees whose primary language is Spanish, Chinese or Korean, those foreign language forms are here. Scroll down for the applicable form; then find the needed language. If you have new employees whose primary language is other than Spanish, Chinese or Korean, you only need to provide the information in English. Other foreign language forms may be released by the labor department in the future. We’ll let you know.

After you’ve checked out what you need to do beginning with new employees hired on or after April 9, 2011, please call the HR Line at 800-332-2117 if you have any other questions.

According to an Associated Press report - “New York’s top court sided Tuesday with the city of Buffalo in a dispute with its unions over wages.

The Court of Appeals, in a unanimous decision, reversed a lower court’s finding that placed teachers, school administrators, police and some firefighters at a higher pay scale than the city and school district wanted following a three-year wage freeze that was lifted in 2007.

City officials estimated the decision would save more than $100 million in back wages and an unknown amount in future years.”

Cuomo looks to cut costs, but budget plan includes $140M for negotiated longevity, other increases for 50,000 public workers

“While Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said it would be “necessary” for public employees to endure a wage freeze in the coming fiscal year, their current contract means more than 50,000 state workers are on track for increases in pay later this year.

While the labor pact expires April 1, a state law known as the Triborough Amendment demands the pre-negotiated increases for time on the job — which require acceptable performance reviews — will be paid according to the existing agreement. No across-the-board raises are scheduled,” writes Jimmy Vielkind in the Times Union.

“The embedded increases, coupled with the Triborough extension, are yet another sign of how difficult it is for the executive to rein in public employee spending.

“From the beginning, when the governor started talking about a pay freeze, it was more symbolic than anything,” said E. J. McMahon, director of the conservative Empire Center for New York State Policy, an Albany-based think tank. “It’s nothing new, and unless he modifies Triborough, it’s not a hard freeze.”

To read more click here.

Carl Campanile writes in the New York Post - “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s education chief unveiled a sweeping teacher-accountability plan yesterday that would scrap the “last in, first out” layoff rule, abolish lifetime tenure and create a performance-based pay system.

“Are we serious about putting kids first or not?” Education Commissioner Chris Cerf asked repeatedly during an address in Princeton.

Like Mayor Bloomberg, Christie wants to repeal a state law that requires that budget-related layoffs be based solely on seniority rather than merit.
Cerf — a former New York City deputy school chancellor– called the LIFO policy “one of the greatest flaws in our current system.”

To read the rest of the New York Post story click here.

The Lower Hudson Valley unemployment rate remains stuck around 7 percent, which, despite consistently falling below state or national levels, still means 60,500 jobs have been lost in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties since jobs peaked in July 2008. And few industries have survived unscathed. In a special report over the next 11 weeks, The Journal News will explore the interconnected web of business, government and personal influences that are at the root of the unemployment crisis.

To read the first part of the series click here.

Michael Moran the Director of Communications of The Business Council of New York State, Inc. writes in a letter to the editor in the Buffalo News - “Queens Assemblyman Michael Gianaris states in the Dec. 19 News story “Pay boost for service workers defended” that his bill to mandate prevailing wages for a variety of private sector employees will impact only utilities—so that makes it OK? He is simply wrong.

First, he is wrong to suggest that business improvement districts have been exempted somehow from this job-killing measure. They haven’t, and no such amendments protecting them were sent to the governor, who would be wise to veto this misguided legislation.

Second, forget about hurting utilities; the proposal simply hurts utility customers— the people who pay electric and gas bills and are the same people represented by state lawmakers who passed this costly measure.”

Daniel Massey of Crain’s New York Business writes (subscription based) - “Taking the side of Con Ed and other big utilities, governor quashes measure that would have raised wages for building services workers, citing weak economy and possible harm to BIDs.

Responding to pressure from a coalition of business groups, Gov. David Paterson vetoed a bill Thursday that would have raised salaries of building service workers at utility giants like Consolidated Edison and National Grid from as little as $7.75 an hour to as much as $21.80 an hour, plus benefits.
Mr. Paterson announced his rejection of the measure in a radio interview on the John Gambling Show on WOR. In doing so, he said the bill “sets a very bad precedent”—the same argument made by the business coalition that had been opposing the measure. “First it will be Con Ed,” Mr. Paterson said. “Then it will be some other private institution.”

The Business Council of New York State released a statement calling the veto “good news for New York’s economy.” Kenneth Adams, the group’s president said the legislation “would have set a dangerous precedent by expanding prevailing wage mandates to private-sector employers not involved in public projects.”

A Con Ed spokesman applauded the governor’s decision. “Legislating wage increases that drive up New Yorkers’ bills is no way to stimulate the economy,” he said in a statement.

The bill had drawn the ire not only of the utility companies and chambers of commerce across the state, but also of the 64 business improvement districts in the city, who worried that their contracted street sweepers could get caught up in the new law. An earlier version of the bill included BIDs, but after leaders protested, a revised version specifically exempted them. The measure that passed the Legislature did not specifically mention BIDs but union officials insist the BIDs were not covered in the final bill.”

To read more click here.

Thomas Adams writes in the Rochester Business Journal - “Gov. David Paterson will veto a bill that would force public utility companies to pay prevailing wages to service workers, he said Thursday in a radio interview, a decision applauded by local and state business groups.

“If enacted, this bill would have killed jobs and increased utility costs at a time when New Yorkers cannot afford either outcome,” Brian Sampson, the Rochester-based executive director of the Unshackle Upstate coalition of businesses, said in a statement.

The bill was passed by the state Senate in June and the Assembly in July. Paterson told New York City radio station WOR that the legislation would set a bad precedent.

“The bill would have cost every New Yorker more in energy costs and taxes,” President and CEO Kenneth Adams said in a statement released by the Business Council of New York State Inc.

“In addition, this irresponsible legislation would have set a dangerous precedent by expanding prevailing wage mandates to private-sector employers not involved in public projects.”

To read more click here.

The Post-Journal of Jamestown joins other newspapers in calling for a veto of the service worker prevailing wage bill.

The newspaper writes: “Just when you think you have seen it all, along comes another economically destructive, job-killing, and unbelievably arrogant legislation from the Democrat-controlled State Legislature.

You need to take action right now, today, to stop it.

It is bad enough that union-controlled New York state government requires “prevailing” wages - meaning union scale - must be paid by private contractors on government jobs. Now the New York Legislature has sent to the governor legislation to expand that to cover private-sector utilities providing services to its own customers.”

Read more.