Sen. Diane Savino and Assemblyman Carl Heastie
stood with advocates today to announce their support for legislation that would
reform labor laws to punish businesses that illegally shirk overtime and minimum
wage requirements.

A report by the National Employment Law Project
found that$18.4 million in wages a week
is stolen from workers in New York
City alone.They estimate more than $1 billion is stolen from them in a year.

“This
money that would otherwise be spent on food, rent and school supplies,” said Anna Maria Archila,co-executive director of Make
the Road New York, “This
bill will turn around the perverse economic incentives that currently encourage
wage theft, undermine responsible businesses, and steal from our tax base.”

“The Wage Theft Prevention Act is a comprehensive
bill to change the perverse incentive by increasing penalties, increasing
protection for workers who speak up, and adding tools that the Department of
Labor and Courts can use to investigate cases and actually collect the money
that workers are owed,” said Heastie in a statement.

The bill,S.7050, has been refereed to the Senate
Labor Committee.