NY Restaurant Workers Winning Wage Battles, But Some Employers are Still Able to Dodge Payments

Wage theft in New York has been described as one of the main threats to the state’s economy over the last decade. The legislature has made stopping wage theft and giving employees ways to recover damages a priority. The problem is that unethical businesses that steal from their employees are moving targets. With each new law, these businesses try to find loopholes to escape justice. Now the legislature is trying to ensure that employers cannot avoid making payments to employees that have won judgments with their NYC employee rights attorneys.

The new bill, the so-called SWEAT Bill (Securing Wages Earned Against Theft) is attempting to close a loophole that allows businesses to continue with business as usual without actually making payments. Currently, it is very difficult to put liens on businesses and their assets in these cases. New York City wage theft attorneys are excited about this bill because it makes it much easier to put liens on businesses that owe judgments. It is a step in the right direction towards making employer-employee relationships more just.

The philosophy behind the bill is that when businesses get large influxes of cash from assets, they should be forced to pay off people they have wronged before lining their pockets. In a recent case, workers from a salon were owed nearly a half million dollars from their wage theft claim. Their NYC employee rights attorneys were unable to get a lien on their properties before they sold some of them and profited more than $3 million. It is simply a miscarriage of justice. It is almost like the employees have been stolen from for a second time.

It is a shame that the New York Legislature has to work so hard to get people to do the right thing. The new law gives New Yorkers a little more hope that they are protected in the workplace.

Our NYC wage theft attorneys at Hepworth Gershbaum & Roth, PLLC help hard working people recover the compensation they deserve from their past or current employers. We do everything we can to recover as much compensation as quickly as possible. Call us at 212-545-1199 or contact us online to schedule a free initial consultation.