Bill Text: NY A09439 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Requires notice from employers to customers of service charges and administrative fees that are not distributed to employees as gratuities.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 25-8)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-06-18 - print number 9439c [A09439 Detail]

Download: New_York-2011-A09439-Introduced.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         9439
                                 I N  A S S E M B L Y
                                     March 1, 2012
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  GOLDFEDER  --  read once and referred to the
         Committee on Labor
       AN ACT to amend the labor law, in  relation  to  requiring  notice  from
         employers to customers of service charges and administration fees that
         are not distributed to employees as gratuities
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. Section 196-d of the labor law, as added by chapter 1007 of
    2  the laws of 1968, is amended to read as follows:
    3    S 196-d. Gratuities. No employer or his agent or an officer  or  agent
    4  of any corporation, or any other person shall demand or accept, directly
    5  or  indirectly,  any part of the gratuities, received by an employee, or
    6  retain any part of a gratuity or of any charge purported to be a gratui-
    7  ty for an employee. This provision shall not apply to  the  checking  of
    8  hats,  coats  or  other  apparel.  Nothing  in this subdivision shall be
    9  construed as affecting the allowances from the minimum wage for  gratui-
   10  ties in the amount determined in accordance with the provisions of arti-
   11  cle  nineteen  of  this chapter nor as affecting practices in connection
   12  with banquets and other special functions where a  fixed  percentage  of
   13  the  patron's  bill  is  added  for  gratuities which are distributed to
   14  employees, nor to the sharing of tips by a waiter with a busboy or simi-
   15  lar employee.   AN EMPLOYER THAT IMPOSES  A  MANDATORY  SERVICE  CHARGE,
   16  ADMINISTRATIVE FEE, OR ANY OTHER SIMILAR CHARGE WHICH IS NOT DISTRIBUTED
   17  TO  EMPLOYEES  AS GRATUITIES MUST PROVIDE WRITTEN NOTICE TO CUSTOMERS ON
   18  THE CHECK OR INVOICE THAT THE CHARGE IS NOT A GRATUITY AND WILL  NOT  BE
   19  DISTRIBUTED  TO  EMPLOYEES  WHO PROVIDED SERVICE TO GUESTS, OR IF ONLY A
   20  PORTION OF THE CHARGE IS DISTRIBUTED AS GRATUITIES, THE PORTION DISTRIB-
   21  UTED AS GRATUITIES MUST BE IDENTIFIED. THE STATEMENTS SHALL USE ORDINARY
   22  LANGUAGE READILY UNDERSTOOD AND SHALL APPEAR IN A TYPE SIZE  SIMILAR  TO
   23  SURROUNDING  TEXT, BUT NO SMALLER THAN TWELVE POINT TYPE.  NOTWITHSTAND-
   24  ING THE FOREGOING, PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE  OF  THIS  SENTENCE,  ANY
   25  MANDATORY  SERVICE  OR  ADMINISTRATIVE  CHARGE,  OR  ANY  MANDATORY FEE,
   26  IMPOSED BY AN EMPLOYER AS PART OF  A  BANQUET  SERVING  TWENTY  OR  MORE
   27  GUESTS SHALL NOT BE DEEMED A GRATUITY OR CHARGE PURPORTED TO BE A GRATU-
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD14113-01-2
       A. 9439                             2
    1  ITY,  AND  SHALL NOT FORM THE BASIS OF ANY LIABILITY UNDER THIS SECTION,
    2  ANY OTHER PROVISION OF  THIS  CHAPTER  OR  ANY  REGULATIONS  IMPLEMENTED
    3  DESPITE  THE  ABSENCE OF SUCH DISCLOSURE OR AS A RESULT OF ANY REPRESEN-
    4  TATION  MADE  BY  ANY  EMPLOYER OR HIS AGENT.   A BANQUET IS AN OCCASION
    5  WHERE FOOD OR BEVERAGE IS SERVED.
    6    S 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    7  have become a law.