§ 193 — Deductions from wages

New York § 193

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law LAB: Labor
• Art. 6: Payment of Wages

Text

§ 193. Deductions from wages. * 1. No employer shall make any\ndeduction from the wages of an employee, except deductions which:\n a. are made in accordance with the provisions of any law or any rule\nor regulation issued by any governmental agency including regulations\npromulgated under paragraph c and paragraph d of this subdivision; or\n b. are expressly authorized in writing by the employee and are for the\nbenefit of the employee, provided that such authorization is voluntary\nand only given following receipt by the employee of written notice of\nall terms and conditions of the payment and/or its benefits and the\ndetails of the manner in which deductions will be made. Whenever there\nis a substantial change in the terms or conditions of the payment,\nincluding but not limited to, any change in the amount of the deduction,\nor a substantial change in the benefits of the deduction or the details\nin the manner in which deductions shall be made, the employer shall, as\nsoon as practicable, but in each case before any increased deduction is\nmade on the employee's behalf, notify the employee prior to the\nimplementation of the change. Such authorization shall be kept on file\non the employer's premises for the period during which the employee is\nemployed by the employer and for six years after such employment ends.\nNotwithstanding the foregoing, employee authorization for deductions\nunder this section may also be provided to the employer pursuant to the\nterms of a collective bargaining agreement. Such authorized deductions\nshall be limited to payments for:\n (i) insurance premiums and prepaid legal plans;\n (ii) pension or health and welfare benefits;\n (iii) contributions to a bona fide charitable organization;\n (iv) purchases made at events sponsored by a bona fide charitable\norganization affiliated with the employer where at least twenty percent\nof the profits from such event are being contributed to a bona fide\ncharitable organization;\n (v) United States bonds;\n (vi) dues or assessments to a labor organization;\n (vii) discounted parking or discounted passes, tokens, fare cards,\nvouchers, or other items that entitle the employee to use mass transit;\n (viii) fitness center, health club, and/or gym membership dues;\n (ix) cafeteria and vending machine purchases made at the employer's\nplace of business and purchases made at gift shops operated by the\nemployer, where the employer is a hospital, college, or university;\n (x) pharmacy purchases made at the employer's place of business;\n (xi) tuition, room, board, and fees for pre-school, nursery, primary,\nsecondary, and/or post-secondary educational institutions;\n (xii) day care, before-school and after-school care expenses;\n (xiii) payments for housing provided at no more than market rates by\nnon-profit hospitals or affiliates thereof; and\n (xiv) similar payments for the benefit of the employee.\n c. are related to recovery of an overpayment of wages where such\noverpayment is due to a mathematical or other clerical error by the\nemployer. In making such recoveries, the employer shall comply with\nregulations promulgated by the commissioner for this purpose, which\nregulations shall include, but not be limited to, provisions governing:\nthe size of overpayments that may be covered by this section; the\ntiming, frequency, duration, and method of such recovery; limitations on\nthe periodic amount of such recovery; a requirement that notice be\nprovided to the employee prior to the commencement of such recovery; a\nrequirement that the employer implement a procedure for disputing the\namount of such overpayment or seeking to delay commencement of such\nrecovery; the terms and content of such a procedure and a requirement\nthat notice of the procedure for disputing the overpayment or seeking to\ndelay commencement of such recovery be provided to the employee prior to\nthe commencement of such recovery.\n d. repayment of advances of salary or wages made by the employer to\nthe employee. Deductions to cover such repayments shall be made in\naccordance with regulations promulgated by the commissioner for this\npurpose, which regulations shall include, but not be limited to,\nprovisions governing: the timing, frequency, duration, and method of\nsuch repayment; limitations on the periodic amount of such repayment; a\nrequirement that notice be provided to the employee prior to the\ncommencement of such repayment; a requirement that the employer\nimplement a procedure for disputing the amount of such repayment or\nseeking to delay commencement of such repayment; the terms and content\nof such a procedure and a requirement that notice of the procedure for\ndisputing the repayment or seeking to delay commencement of such\nrepayment be provided to the employee at the time the loan is made.\n * NB Effective until November 6, 2026\n * 1. No employer shall make any deduction from the wages of an\nemployee, except deductions which:\n a. are made in accordance with the provisions of any law or any rule\nor regulation issued by any governmental agency; or\n b. are expressly authorized in writing by the employee and are for the\nbenefit of the employee; provided that such authorization is kept on\nfile on the employer's premises. Such authorized deductions shall be\nlimited to payments for insurance premiums, pension or health and\nwelfare benefits, contributions to charitable organizations, payments\nfor United States bonds, payments for dues or assessments to a labor\norganization, and similar payments for the benefit of the employee.\n * NB Effective November 6, 2026\n * 2. Deductions made in conjunction with an employer sponsored pre-tax\ncontribution plan approved by the IRS or other local taxing authority,\nincluding those falling within one or more of the categories set forth\nin paragraph b of subdivision one of this section, shall be considered\nto have been made in accordance with paragraph a of subdivision one of\nthis section.\n * NB Effective until November 6, 2026\n * 2. No employer shall make any charge against wages, or require an\nemployee to make any payment by separate transaction unless such charge\nor payment is permitted as a deduction from wages under the provisions\nof subdivision one of this section.\n * NB Effective November 6, 2026\n * 3. a. No employer shall make any charge against wages, or require an\nemployee to make any payment by separate transaction unless such charge\nor payment is permitted as a deduction from wages under the provisions\nof subdivision one of this section or is permitted or required under any\nprovision of a current collective bargaining agreement.\n b. Notwithstanding the existence of employee authorization to make\ndeductions in accordance with subparagraphs (iv), (ix), and (x) of\nparagraph b of subdivision one of this section and deductions determined\nby the commissioner to be similar to such deductions in accordance with\nsubparagraph (xiv) of paragraph b of subdivision one of this section,\nthe total aggregate amount of such deductions for each pay period shall\nbe subject to the following limitations: (i) such aggregate amount shall\nnot exceed a maximum aggregate limit established by the employer for\neach pay period; (ii) such aggregate amount shall not exceed a maximum\naggregate limit established by the employee, which limit may be for any\namount (in ten dollar increments) up to the maximum amount established\nby the employer under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph; (iii) the\nemployer shall not permit any purchases within these categories of\ndeduction by the employee that exceed the aggregate limit established by\nthe employee or, if no limit has been set by the employee, the limit set\nby the employer; (iv) the employee shall have access within the\nworkplace to current account information detailing individual\nexpenditures within these categories of deduction and a running total of\nthe amount that will be deducted from the employee's pay during the next\napplicable pay period. Information shall be available in printed form or\ncapable of being printed should the employee wish to obtain a listing.\nNo employee may be charged any fee, directly or indirectly, for access\nto, or printing of, such account information.\n c. With the exception of wage deductions required or authorized in a\ncurrent existing collective bargaining agreement, an employee's\nauthorization for any and all wage deductions may be revoked in writing\nat any time. The employer must cease the wage deduction for which the\nemployee has revoked authorization as soon as practicable, and, in no\nevent more than four pay periods or eight weeks after the authorization\nhas been withdrawn, whichever is sooner.\n * NB Effective until November 6, 2026\n * 3. Nothing in this section shall justify noncompliance with article\nthree-A of the personal property law relating to assignment of earnings,\nnor with any other law applicable to deductions from wages.\n * NB Effective November 6, 2026\n * 4. Nothing in this section shall justify noncompliance with article\nthree-A of the personal property law relating to assignment of earnings,\nwith section two hundred twenty-one of this chapter relating to company\nstores or with any other law applicable to deductions from wages.\n * NB Effective until November 6, 2026\n 5. There is no exception to liability under this section for the\nunauthorized failure to pay wages, benefits or wage supplements.\n