What to do after an employee dies

In the extremely unfortunate event when an employee dies, what steps as an employer are you required to take?

In New York, requirements for paying deceased employees is outlined in Labor Law Section 191.

The law requires employers to make “reasonable efforts” to pay a deceased employee’s wages within the time periods specified in that Section.

Here’s a list of what “reasonable efforts” mean to include…

• Contact any emergency contact or next of kin identified in the employee’s personnel file.
• Attempt to contact any known family or friends of the employee, if different than their listed emergency contact(s).
• Contact the Surrogate’s Court to determine whether estate or probate proceedings have begun and an an estate administrator has been identified.
• Review obituary notices to locate the widow, widower or other family member(s) of the deceased employee.
• Speak with the funeral director handling the deceased’s funeral arrangements to either obtain contact information on the deceased’s family or to send a message to the family to be in contact with you, the employer.
• Contact insurers on company sponsored life insurance to identify beneficiaries who can be contacted for estate administration.
• Contact the County Health Department or other entity that issues Death Certificates to find out the identity of the next of kin listed on the Certificate.

 In addition to these “reasonable efforts” the employer may also take additional action in attempt to identify an appropriate contact to receive the wages.

If - after all of these efforts - you’re unable to locate or contact the estate administrator or next of kin of the deceased employee, you must remit the funds to the Office of State Comptroller after 3 years in accordance with the State Abandoned Property Law.

Also, it's worth mentioning that employers are only charged for Social Security task if they're (you're) issuing the final paycheck in the same year that the employee passed away.

For more information on what to do when an employee dies, check out information from the New York State Department of Labor.

If you’re still confused, or have a question, get in touch with us. We’d love to help you out!