N.Y. Labor Law 655 – Wage board; procedure; report
§ 655. Wage board; procedure; report. 1. Wage board. A wage board shall be composed of not more than three representatives of employers, an equal number of representatives of employees and an equal number of persons selected from the general public. The commissioner shall appoint the members of the board, the representatives of the employers and employees to be selected so far as practicable from nominations submitted by employers and employees in such occupation or occupations. The commissioner shall designate as the chairman one of the members selected from the general public. The members of the board shall not receive a salary or other compensation, but shall be paid actual and necessary traveling expenses while engaged in the performance of their duties.
Terms Used In N.Y. Labor Law 655
- Commissioner: means the industrial commissioner. See N.Y. Labor Law 651
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Employee: includes any individual employed or permitted to work by an employer in any occupation, but shall not include any individual who is employed or permitted to work: (a) on a casual basis in service as a part time baby sitter in the home of the employer; (b) in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity; (c) as an outside salesman; (d) as a driver engaged in operating a taxicab; (e) as a volunteer, learner or apprentice by a corporation, unincorporated association, community chest, fund or foundation organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable or educational purposes, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual; (f) as a member of a religious order, or as a duly ordained, commissioned or licensed minister, priest or rabbi, or as a sexton, or as a christian science reader; (g) in or for such a religious or charitable institution, which work is incidental to or in return for charitable aid conferred upon such individual and not under any express contract of hire; (h) in or for such a religious, educational or charitable institution if such individual is a student; (i) in or for such a religious, educational or charitable institution if the earning capacity of such individual is impaired by age or by physical or mental deficiency or injury; (j) in or for a summer camp or conference of such a religious, educational or charitable institution for not more than three months annually; (k) as a staff counselor in a children's camp; (l) in or for a college or university fraternity, sorority, student association or faculty association, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, and which is recognized by such college or university, if such individual is a student; (m) by a federal, state or municipal government or political subdivision thereof; (n) as a volunteer at a recreational or amusement event run by a business that operates such events, provided that no single such event lasts longer than eight consecutive days and no more than one such event concerning substantially the same subject matter occurs in any calendar year, where (1) any such volunteer shall be at least eighteen years of age, (2) a business seeking coverage under this paragraph shall notify every volunteer in writing, in language acceptable to the commissioner, that by volunteering his or her services, such volunteer is waiving his or her right to receive the minimum wage pursuant to this article, and (3) such notice shall be signed and dated by a representative of the business and the volunteer and kept on file by the business for thirty-six months; or (o) in the delivery of newspapers or shopping news to the consumer by a person who is not performing commercial goods transportation services for a commercial goods transportation contractor within the meaning of article twenty-five-C of this chapter. See N.Y. Labor Law 651
- Employer: includes any individual, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of persons acting as employer. See N.Y. Labor Law 651
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Occupation: means an industry, trade, business or class of work in which employees are gainfully employed. See N.Y. Labor Law 651
- Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- Wage: includes allowances, in the amount determined in accordance with the provisions of this article, for gratuities and, when furnished by the employer to employees, for meals, lodging, apparel, and other such items, services and facilities. See N.Y. Labor Law 651
- wage board: means a board created as provided in this article. See N.Y. Labor Law 651
2. Organization. The chairman of the board is authorized to delegate to a panel of the members, composed of an equal number of employer, employee and public members, any or all of the powers which the board itself may exercise, except as otherwise provided in subdivision four of this section. Two-thirds of the members of the board or of a panel, as the case may be, shall constitute a quorum. The commissioner may from time to time formulate rules governing the manner in which the wage board shall function and perform its duties under this article.
3. Powers. The wage board shall have power to conduct public hearings. The board may also consult with employers and employees, and their respective representatives, in the occupation or occupations involved, and with such other persons, including the commissioner, as it shall determine. The board shall also have power to administer oaths and to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and the production of all books, records, and other evidence relative to any matters under inquiry. Such subpoenas shall be signed and issued by the chairman of the board, or any other public member, and shall be served and have the same effect as if issued out of the supreme court. The board shall have power to cause depositions of witnesses residing within or without the state to be taken in the manner prescribed for like depositions in civil actions in the supreme court. The board shall not be bound by common law or statutory rules of procedure or evidence.
4. Report. Within forty-five days of the appointment of the wage board to inquire into wages in any occupation or occupations, the board shall (a) conduct public hearings and (b) submit to the commissioner a report, including its recommendations as to minimum wages and regulations for the employees in such occupation or occupations. The report and recommendations of the board shall be submitted only after a vote of not less than a majority of all its members in support of such report and recommendations. No report or recommendation of a panel shall be submitted without the prior vote of not less than a majority of all the members of the board in support of such report or recommendation. The commissioner may extend up to ninety days the time in which the report shall be submitted.
5. Minimum wage recommendations. (a) The minimum wage recommended by the wage board shall not be in excess of an amount sufficient to provide adequate maintenance and to protect the health of the employees. In no event, however, shall any minimum wage recommended by the board be less than the wage specified in section six hundred fifty-two of this chapter, except (1) as expressly otherwise provided in paragraph (c) of this subdivision, and (2) where the board finds conditions of employment are such as to make an hourly rate impracticable, in which event the board may recommend a wage rate other than an hourly rate, provided that such recommended rate carries out the purposes of this article and safeguards the minimum wage specified in section six hundred fifty-two of this chapter. The board may classify employments in any occupation according to the nature of the work rendered and recommend minimum wages in accordance with such classification. The board may also recommend a minimum wage varying with localities if, in the judgment of the board, conditions make such variation appropriate.
(b) In addition to recommendations for minimum wages, the wage board may recommend such regulations as it deems appropriate to carry out the purposes of this article and to safeguard minimum wages. Such recommended regulations may include regulations defining the exclusions from the term "employee" set forth in subdivision five of section six hundred fifty-one. Such recommended regulations may also include, but are not limited to, regulations governing piece rates, incentives, and commissions in relation to time rates; overtime or part-time rates; waiting time and call-in pay rates; wage rate provisions governing split shift, excessive spread of hours and weekly guarantees; and allowances for gratuities and, when furnished by the employer to his employees, for meals, lodging, apparel and other such items, services and facilities.
(c) The wage board may also recommend, to the extent necessary in order to prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment, regulations for (1) the employment of learners and apprentices, under special certificates issued by the commissioner, at such wages lower than the minimum wage established by this article and subject to such limitations as to time, number, proportion and length of service as shall be prescribed in such regulation, (2) the employment of individuals whose earning capacity is affected or impaired by youth or age or by physical or mental deficiency or injury, under special certificates issued by the commissioner, at such wages lower than the minimum wage established by this article and for such period as shall be prescribed in such regulation, (3) the establishment of a period not extending beyond seventeen consecutive weeks during which a resort hotel or camp may employ students under special certificates issued by the commissioner, at such wages lower than the minimum wage established by this article as shall be prescribed in such regulation, and (4) the employment of residential employees in a non-profit making religious, charitable or educational organization or in a non-profit making college or university sorority or fraternity under special certificates issued by the commissioner at such weekly wage as shall be prescribed in such regulation.