https://kaitlynwhiteside.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bCCq!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fced04b5b-cd7c-448b-a159-bfe6de56bd33_2000x2000.pnghttps://kaitlynwhiteside.substack.comSubstackWed, 03 Jun 2026 13:51:29 GMThttps://kaitlynwhiteside.substack.com/p/is-a-bonus-a-wage-new-york-statehttps://kaitlynwhiteside.substack.com/p/is-a-bonus-a-wage-new-york-stateFri, 01 May 2026 20:53:04 GMT*Legislation to Watch*

Back in March, the New York Senate and Assembly passed companion bills entitled The Wage Payment Integrity Act, which would amend the New York Labor Law to significantly expand New York's definition of "wages" to include "any employment compensation that is not payable at the employer's sole and absolute discretion."

The legislation is specifically designed to target bonuses and would require that an employer notify employees in a "clear, prominent, timely, and uncontradicted fashion" that a bonus is within its sole and absolute discretion to fall outside the definition of wages.

Interestingly, the legislation also creates a presumption in favor of an employee's testimony as to their compensation terms if the employer cannot produce New York's required Wage Theft Prevention Act Notice for the employee.

My initial reaction (if Governor Hochul ends up signing this in the fall):
- The biggest impact may ultimately be outside of the bonus context, especially in misclassification cases where a purportedly exempt employee did not receive a WTPA notice and is now entitled to a presumption on their version of their compensation (i.e., overtime eligibility).
- Potential for lots of interesting litigation around the significance of "contradicted." For example, what if an offer letter states that the bonus is in the employer's sole and absolute discretion but the employer then communicates internally that there is a formula to be applied, a bonus floor, or sets out specific performance metrics. I would argue that the employer's sole and absolute discretion is now contradicted.
- Forfeiture and clawback clauses were already disfavored. Once a bonus is a wage, conditioning payment on continued employment, or clawing it back after payment, starts to look a lot like an unauthorized wage deduction. I suspect the Wage Payment Integrity Act could be the death knell for both types of clauses despite the fact that neither is expressly addressed.

Would love to hear others' thoughts! Legislation linked below.

https://lnkd.in/gUtkJdjD
https://lnkd.in/g7mMBjCM

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