N.Y. Labor Law § 195 (2026)

§ 195. Notice and record-keeping requirements. Every employer shall:
  1. (a) provide his or her employees, in writing in English and in the
language identified by each employee as the primary language of such
employee, at the time of hiring, a notice containing the following
information: the rate or rates of pay and basis thereof, whether paid by
the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission, or other;
allowances, if any, claimed as part of the minimum wage, including tip,
meal, or lodging allowances; the benefit portion of the minimum rate of
home care aide total compensation as defined in section thirty-six
hundred fourteen-c of the public health law ("home care aide benefits"),
if applicable; prevailing wage supplements, if any, claimed as part of
any prevailing wage or similar requirement pursuant to article eight of
this chapter; the regular pay day designated by the employer in
accordance with section one hundred ninety-one of this article; the name
of the employer; any "doing business as" names used by the employer; the
physical address of the employer's main office or principal place of
business, and a mailing address if different; the telephone number of
the employer; plus such other information as the commissioner deems
material and necessary. Where such prevailing wage supplements are
claimed, or such home care aide benefits are provided, the notice shall
identify, for each type of supplement claimed or each type of home care
aide benefits provided: (i) the hourly rate claimed; (ii) the type of
supplement or type of home care aide benefits, including when
applicable, but not limited to, pension or healthcare; (iii) the names
and addresses of the person or entity providing such supplement or such
home care aide benefits; and (iv) the agreement, if any, requiring or
providing for such supplement or such home care aide benefits, together
with information on how copies of such agreements or summaries thereof
may be obtained by an employee. Each time the employer provides such
notice to an employee, the employer shall obtain from the employee a
signed and dated written acknowledgement, in English and in the primary
language of the employee, of receipt of this notice, which the employer
shall preserve and maintain for six years. Such acknowledgement shall
include an affirmation by the employee that the employee accurately
identified his or her primary language to the employer, and that the
notice provided by the employer to such employee pursuant to this
subdivision was in the language so identified or otherwise complied with
paragraph (c) of this subdivision, and shall conform to any additional
requirements established by the commissioner with regard to content and
form. For all employees who are not exempt from overtime compensation as
established in the commissioner's minimum wage orders or otherwise
provided by New York state law or regulation, the notice must state the
regular hourly rate and overtime rate of pay;
  (b) The commissioner shall prepare templates that comply with the
requirements of paragraph (a) of this subdivision. Each such template
shall be dual-language, including English and one additional language.
The commissioner shall determine, in his or her discretion, which
languages to provide in addition to English, based on the size of the
New York state population that speaks each language and any other factor
that the commissioner shall deem relevant. All such templates shall be
made available to employers in such manner as determined by the
commissioner;
  (c) When an employee identifies as his or her primary language a
language for which a template is not available from the commissioner,
the employer shall comply with this subdivision by providing that
employee an English-language notice or acknowledgment;
  (d) An employer shall not be penalized for errors or omissions in the
non-English portions of any notice provided by the commissioner;
  (e) The commissioner shall have discretion to waive or alter
requirements of paragraph (a) of this subdivision for temporary help
firms as defined in section nine hundred sixteen of this chapter.
  2. notify his or her employees in writing of any changes to the
information set forth in subdivision one of this section, at least seven
calendar days prior to the time of such changes, unless such changes are
reflected on the wage statement furnished in accordance with subdivision
three of this section;
  3. furnish each employee with a statement with every payment of wages,
listing the following: the dates of work covered by that payment of
wages; name of employee; name of employer; address and phone number of
employer; rate or rates of pay and basis thereof, whether paid by the
hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission, or other; gross
wages; deductions; allowances, if any, claimed as part of the minimum
wage; the benefit portion of the minimum rate of home care aide total
compensation as defined in section thirty-six hundred fourteen-c of the
public health law ("home care aide benefits"), if applicable; prevailing
wage supplements, if any, claimed as part of any prevailing wage or
similar requirement pursuant to article eight of this chapter; and net
wages. Where such prevailing wage supplements are claimed, or such home
care aide benefits are provided, the statement shall either: (i)
identify the type of each supplement claimed, or the type of each home
care aide benefits provided, and the hourly rate for each; or (ii) be
accompanied by a copy of the applicable notice required under
subdivisions one and two of this section. For all employees who are not
exempt from overtime compensation as established in the commissioner's
minimum wage orders or otherwise provided by New York state law or
regulation, the statement shall include the regular hourly rate or rates
of pay; the overtime rate or rates of pay; the number of regular hours
worked, and the number of overtime hours worked. For all employees paid
a piece rate, the statement shall include the applicable piece rate or
rates of pay and number of pieces completed at each piece rate. Upon the
request of an employee, an employer shall furnish an explanation in
writing of how such wages were computed;
  3-a. in addition, every railroad corporation shall furnish each
employee with a statement with every payment of wages listing accrued
total earnings and taxes to date and further furnish said employee at
the same time with a separate listing of his daily wages and how they
were computed;
  4. establish, maintain and preserve for not less than six years
contemporaneous, true, and accurate payroll records showing for each
week worked the hours worked; the rate or rates of pay and basis
thereof, whether paid by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece,
commission, or other; gross wages; deductions; allowances, if any,
claimed as part of the minimum wage; amount of sick leave provided to
each employee; the benefit portion of the minimum rate of home care aide
total compensation as defined in section thirty-six hundred fourteen-c
of the public health law ("home care aide benefits"), if applicable;
prevailing wage supplements, if any, claimed as part of any prevailing
wage or similar requirement pursuant to article eight of this chapter;
and net wages for each employee. Where such prevailing wage supplements
are claimed, or such home care aide benefits are provided, the payroll
records shall include copies of all notices required by subdivisions one
and two of this section. For all employees who are not exempt from
overtime compensation as established in the commissioner's minimum wage
orders or otherwise provided by New York state law or regulation, the
payroll records shall include the regular hourly rate or rates of pay,
the overtime rate or rates of pay, the number of regular hours worked,
and the number of overtime hours worked. For all employees paid a piece
rate, the payroll records shall include the applicable piece rate or
rates of pay and number of pieces completed at each piece rate;
  5. notify his employees in writing or by publicly posting the
employer's policy on sick leave, vacation, personal leave, holidays and
hours.
  6. notify any employee terminated from employment, in writing, of the
exact date of such termination as well as the exact date of cancellation
of employee benefits connected with such termination. In no case shall
notice of such termination be provided more than five working days after
the date of such termination. Failure to notify an employee of
cancellation of accident or health insurance subjects an employer to an
additional penalty pursuant to section two hundred seventeen of this
chapter.