New York Form LS-56 is the Department of Labor’s pay rate notice for employees paid a weekly rate or a salary for a fixed schedule of 40 hours or fewer per week. Every private-sector employer in New York must give a completed, signed copy to each qualifying employee at hire to meet the written notice requirement under Labor Law ยง 195(1).1New York Department of Labor. Notice of Pay Rate The blank template is available at forms.labor.ny.gov.2New York State Department of Labor. Notice and Acknowledgement of Pay Rate and Payday Under Section 195.1 of the New York State Labor Law
Confirm LS-56 Fits the Employee
LS-56 is the right form only when the employee is paid a weekly rate or a salary covering a fixed schedule of 40 hours or fewer per week. Different pay structures require different DOL templates, so check the Notice of Pay Rate page if the arrangement is anything else.1New York Department of Labor. Notice of Pay Rate
Every employee who performs work in New York must get a notice, whether or not they are exempt from overtime, and that includes managers and officers. The requirement applies to all private employers, including charter schools, private schools, and not-for-profits. Federal, state, and local government employers are not covered, and employees who work entirely outside New York do not need one.3New York Department of Labor. Wage Theft Prevention Act Frequently Asked Questions
How to Complete Each Section
The form has four short sections plus the acknowledgement. Every field matters.
Section 1, Employer Information. Enter the business’s legal name, any DBA names, physical address, mailing address if different, and phone number. The Federal Employer Identification Number field is marked optional on the form itself.2New York State Department of Labor. Notice and Acknowledgement of Pay Rate and Payday Under Section 195.1 of the New York State Labor Law
Section 2, Pay Rate. Enter the employee’s weekly or salary rate. For employees who are not exempt from overtime, also enter the regular hourly rate and the overtime rate, which in New York is one and a half times the regular rate.4New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 195 – Notice and Record-Keeping Requirements Resolve exempt versus non-exempt status before you fill this in, because the answer decides whether you complete the overtime field or leave it blank.
Section 3, Regular Payday. Enter the specific day of the week, or the date, on which the employee will be paid.
Section 4, Allowances Taken. Check whether any allowances are claimed against minimum wage. The options are tips (listed per hour), meals (per meal), lodging, or other. If none apply, check “None.”
Language and Signature
You must provide the notice in English and in the employee’s primary language. The DOL publishes dual-language templates for several commonly spoken languages; if no template exists for the employee’s language, the English version alone satisfies the requirement.4New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 195 – Notice and Record-Keeping Requirements
The employee signs and dates the bottom of the form. That signature also affirms that the employee accurately identified their primary language and received the notice in that language. Both the signature and the language affirmation are statutory, not optional. Give the employee a signed copy and keep the original.
When to Issue and Reissue the Notice
The initial notice goes to the employee at the time of hiring, before work begins. After that, you must issue a new written notice at least seven calendar days before any change to the information on the form takes effect, unless the change is already reflected on the employee’s next wage statement.4New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 195 – Notice and Record-Keeping Requirements
Raises and pay cuts are treated differently. Outside the hospitality industry, a pay increase does not require advance written notice as long as the new rate appears on the very next paycheck. A pay decrease always requires written notice before it takes effect. Hospitality employers must issue a new notice every time any wage rate changes, up or down.3New York Department of Labor. Wage Theft Prevention Act Frequently Asked Questions
Keep the Signed Original for Six Years
Retain the signed original of each LS-56 for six years, measured from the date the employee signed.2New York State Department of Labor. Notice and Acknowledgement of Pay Rate and Payday Under Section 195.1 of the New York State Labor Law If you issue an updated notice after a pay change, the six-year clock applies to each version separately. Storing these with payroll records is the cleanest option, since payroll records carry the same retention period.
What It Costs to Skip the Notice
An employee who does not receive the required notice within ten business days of starting work can sue for $50 per work day the violation continues, capped at $5,000, plus attorney’s fees and court costs. The DOL commissioner can bring an enforcement action assessing the same $50-per-day penalty.5New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 198 – Costs, Remedies Those amounts are per employee.
Two affirmative defenses exist for past violations: the employer made complete and timely payment of all wages owed, or the employer had a reasonable, good-faith belief that the notice was not required.5New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 198 – Costs, Remedies Neither defense removes the obligation going forward. Since the form takes only a few minutes, compliance is far cheaper than the exposure.