According to the New York Department of Labor, employers must now receive written consent to pay their employees via direct deposit and cannot charge them for this service. Both wage payment via payroll debit cards and direct deposits will now require greater obligations for employers, who will also need to take internal measures to stay in compliance. Employers using these means of payment must now provide employees with a written explanation of the worker's choices for wage delivery, a statement that they are not required to receive wages via payroll deposit and/or direct deposit, and inform them that they will not incur any fees to receive wage via payroll debit cards. Consent must be received in the employee's’ primary language and electronic notice is allowed if all regulatory requirements are met. The new regulation will go into effect on March 7, 2017.
See "New Regulation Restricts New York Employers Seeking to Pay Wages by Direct Deposit, Payroll Debit Cards", Richard Greenberg, Daniel J. Jacobs, Daisy A. Tomaselli, The National Law Review, September 21, 2016