Legislation is currently pending before the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, that if passed into law, will have sweeping, potentially harmful consequences to employers with respect to employee wage claims. The proposed legislation (SB2762/AB766), which has already passed the Assembly, would allow employees who claim they are owed wages to file liens against their employers’ personal and business assets in a manner similar to a mechanic’s lien or a tradesperson’s lien. Additionally, due to the wording of the legislation, employees would be allowed file such liens against the personal assets of certain non-owner managers of a business.
Under the new legislation, employees who believe, rightly or wrongly, that they are owed wages will be allowed to file these “Employee’s Liens” without first having to take legal action against the employer or obtain a money judgment.
