196-A - Complaints by employees to commissioner.
§ 196-a. Complaints by employees to commissioner. (a) Any employee, or the recognized and certified collective bargaining agent acting on the employee's behalf, may file with the commissioner a complaint regarding a violation of this article, article nineteen, or article nineteen-A of this chapter for an investigation of such complaint and statement setting the appropriate remedy, if any. Failure of an employer to keep adequate records, in addition to exposing such employer to penalties authorized under subdivision one of section two hundred eighteen of this chapter, shall not operate as a bar to filing of a complaint by an employee. In such a case the employer in violation shall bear the burden of proving that the complaining employee was paid wages, benefits and wage supplements. (b) Any employee, or the recognized and certified collective bargaining agent acting on the employee's behalf, contractor, or the recognized and certified labor organization with which the contractor has executed a collective bargaining agreement covering wages, benefits and supplements, may file with the commissioner a complaint regarding an alleged violation of this article or article nineteen of this chapter occasioned by another person, corporation, employer or entities in violation of article thirty-five-E of the general business law for an investigation of such complaint and statement setting the appropriate remedy, if any.