Bill Text: NY S06114 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes the crime of wage theft.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CODES [S06114 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S06114-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6114

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 16, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  SAVINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes

        AN ACT to amend the  criminal  procedure  law  and  the  penal  law,  in
          relation to wage theft

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 20.40 of  the  criminal  procedure
     2  law is amended by adding a new paragraph (o) to read as follows:
     3    (o) An offense of wage theft as defined in section 155.50 of the penal
     4  law  may  be prosecuted in any county where services were provided or in
     5  any county where the defendant agreed to pay such wages,  regardless  of
     6  whether  withheld  wages  for  services provided in two or more counties
     7  were charged as an aggregate amount.
     8    § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.50  to  read
     9  as follows:
    10  § 155.50 Wage theft; definition.
    11    For the purposes of sections 155.55, 155.60, 155.65, 155.70 and 155.75
    12  of  this  article,  a person commits wage theft when he or she withholds
    13  agreed-upon wages that were promised in exchange for the performance  of
    14  services  by  another person who has performed the agreed-upon services,
    15  with an intent to deprive such person of property or to appropriate  the
    16  same to himself or herself or a third person.
    17    §  3.  The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.55 to read
    18  as follows:
    19  § 155.55 Wage theft in the fifth degree.
    20    A person is guilty of wage theft in the fifth degree when  he  or  she
    21  commits wage theft as defined in section 155.50 of this article.
    22    Wage theft in the fifth degree is a class A misdemeanor.
    23    §  4.  The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.60 to read
    24  as follows:
    25  § 155.60 Wage theft in the fourth degree.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11744-01-9
        S. 6114                             2

     1    A person is guilty of wage theft in the fourth degree when he  or  she
     2  commits  wage  theft  as  defined  in section 155.50 of this article and
     3  when:
     4    1.  the  aggregate value of the wages withheld from one person exceeds
     5  one thousand dollars; or
     6    2. he or she withholds wages from ten or more people.
     7    Wage theft in the fourth degree is a class E felony.
     8    § 5. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.65  to  read
     9  as follows:
    10  § 155.65 Wage theft in the third degree.
    11    A  person  is  guilty of wage theft in the third degree when he or she
    12  commits wage theft as defined in section  155.50  of  this  article  and
    13  when:
    14    1.  the  aggregate value of the wages withheld from one person exceeds
    15  three thousand dollars; or
    16    2. he or she withholds wages from twenty-five or more people.
    17    Wage theft in the third degree is a class D felony.
    18    § 6. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.70  to  read
    19  as follows:
    20  § 155.70 Wage theft in the second degree.
    21    A  person  is guilty of wage theft in the second degree when he or she
    22  commits wage theft as defined in section  155.50  of  this  article  and
    23  when:
    24    1.  the  aggregate value of the wages withheld from one person exceeds
    25  fifty thousand dollars; or
    26    2. he or she withholds wages from fifty or more people.
    27    Wage theft in the second degree is a class C felony.
    28    § 7. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 155.75  to  read
    29  as follows:
    30  § 155.75 Wage theft in the first degree.
    31    A  person  is  guilty of wage theft in the first degree when he or she
    32  commits wage theft as defined in section  155.50  of  this  article  and
    33  when:
    34    1.  the  aggregate value of the wages withheld from one person exceeds
    35  one million dollars; or
    36    2. he or she withholds wages from seventy-five or more people.
    37    Wage theft in the first degree is a class B felony.
    38    § 8. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 20.20 of the penal law,
    39  as amended by chapter 671 of the laws of 1986, is  amended  to  read  as
    40  follows:
    41    (c)  The conduct constituting the offense is engaged in by an agent of
    42  the corporation while acting within the scope of his employment  and  in
    43  behalf  of  the  corporation,  and the offense is (i) a misdemeanor or a
    44  violation, (ii) one defined by  a  statute  which  clearly  indicates  a
    45  legislative  intent  to impose such criminal liability on a corporation,
    46  [or] (iii) any offense set forth in title twenty-seven of article seven-
    47  ty-one of the environmental conservation law, or (iv)  any  offense  set
    48  forth  in section 155.55, 155.60, 155.65, 155.70 or 155.75 of this chap-
    49  ter.
    50    § 9. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    51  have become a law.