Payroll Card Regulations in New York Are Struck Down -
By STACY COWLEYMARCH 3, 2017
A New York State effort to more tightly regulate the prepaid cards on which many employees receive their wages was struck down by a review board, which ruled
that the state’s Labor Department exceeded its authority in imposing fee limits and other restrictions on the cards.
Susan Shin, the legal director of the New Economy Project, which has long lobbied for stricter rules to rein in payroll
card fees, said the New York State Labor Department’s regulations would have helped thousands of low-wage workers.
But the department improperly strayed into the regulation of banking services, an area beyond its purview, according to a unanimous
ruling by the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals, an independent review agency with the power to overturn labor rules.
The new rules, which had been slated to take effect next week, aimed to ensure
that workers who receive their wages on a payroll card would not have to pay any fees to gain access to their pay.
