If you are in New York State and have – or plan to have – employees working for you – now is the time to verify that your new hire documents are fully up-to-date.  Among other things, starting on October 26, 2009, all New York employers are required to to provide new hires with written notice of their (1)  regular rate of pay, (2) regular pay date and (3) for non-exempt employees, the exact hourly overtime rate they will be paid for any hours worked over 40 hours in the company’s normal payroll-week. An acknowledgment of this notice has to be signed by the new employee and kept on file.  Failure to comply with these new record-keeping requirements risks exposure to civil penalties in an audit.