The New York Labor Law Guide

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate that employers are legally obligated to pay employees. The federal minimum wage is a wage baseline, but different states, cities, and regions can adopt their own rates. 

As of 2024, the minimum wage is $15.00 per hour for most employees.

Cities that have higher minimum wage as of 2024:

• New York City: $16.00 per hour (App-based delivery drivers - $19.56)

• Long Island: $16.00 per hour

• Westchester: $16.00 per hour
  

Starting January 1st, 2025, the minimum wage will be $15.50 for most employees.

Cities that have a higher minimum wage effective January 1st, 2025:

• New York City - $16.50

• Long Island -  $16.50

• Westchester-  $16.50

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Tipped minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate employers are legally permitted to pay employees who earn a significant portion of their income through tips. Below is a summary of the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in New York:

Tipped minimum wage amounts for 2024:

• Food Service: $10

• Service Employee: $12.50

Tipped minimum wage amounts effective January 1st, 2025:

• Food Service: $11

• Service Employee: $12.90

In New York, non-exempt employees are entitled to weekly overtime pay at 1.5 times their regular pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. 

Who is covered by the State overtime requirements?

Some occupations are exempt from overtime pay under federal law but are still entitled to overtime pay under New York State law. These include:

• Charter schools

• Private 

• Non-for-profit corporations

• Non-teachers working for school districts

Who is exempted from overtime pay provisions of both New York law and federal law?

• Employees who fall within the requirements of the executive, administrative or professional employee exemptions (white collar exemptions); 

• Outside salespeople;

• Individuals working for a federal, state, or municipal government;

• Farm laborers;

• Certain volunteers, interns, and apprentices;

• Taxicab drivers;

• Members of religious orders;

• Certain Individuals working for religious or charitable institutions;

• Camp counselors;

• Individuals working for a fraternity, sorority, student or faculty association; and 

• Part-time babysitters.

New York wage and hour laws require different types of meal and rest breaks for different industries. New York’s meal and rest breaks are summarized below:

• A meal period is required for all employees who work a shift of at least 6 hours. 

• An employee whose shift begins before 11 AM and continues until after 7 PM must be allowed an additional meal period of at least 20 minutes between 5 PM and 7 PM.

• Factory workers who are scheduled to work more than 6 hours must be provided a 60-minute meal period between the hours of 11 AM and 2 PM. The must also receive an additional 60-minute meal period midway between the beginning and end of the shift for all shifts starting between the hours of 1pm and 6am. 

• Non-factory workers who are scheduled to work more than 6 hours must be provided a 30 minute meal period between 11 AM and 2 PM. They must be provided an additional meal period of at least 45 minutes midway between the beginning and ending of their shift for all shifts starting between the hours of 1 PM and 6 AM.  

Different rules may apply to home health attendants. 

The New York Department of Labor may permit shorter breaks in certain situations. This will be in writing and must be posted at the main entrance of the workplace.

Rest breaks are not generally required for employers in the state of New York.

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Vacation Leave
The New York State Labor Law doesn’t require any paid or unpaid vacation leave. 

Paid Sick Leave
New York’s paid sick leave law requires employers with five or more employees or businesses with a net income of more than $1 million to provide paid sick leave to employees as follows:

• 5-99 Employees: Up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year

• 100+ Employees: Up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year

Employers with fewer than five employees or a net income of less than $1 million must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave to employees. 

Covered employees in New York must either accrue leave at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked, or the full amount of sick leave for the year must be frontloaded to them at the beginning of each 12-month period. 

Starting January 1st, 2025, New York employers are required to provide up to 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave annually in addition to the current required paid sick leave. Paid prenatal personal leave includes services and discussions with health provider(s) that are pregnancy relationed, and also includes fertility treatments and end-of-pregnancy appointments.

Also effective July 31, 2025- New York's COVID-19 Paid Emergency Leave is expected to expire. After that date, employees who need leave for Covid-19 related reasons will need to use some other type of paid leave, such as New York State Paid Sick Leave or NYC’s Earned Sick and Safe Time leave. 

Holidays
Private employers in New York are not required to provide paid or unpaid holiday leave, or holiday premium pay.

→ Learn more about Deputy's leave management software

New York’s child labor laws restrict the hours that minors under the age of 18 may work depending on the minor’s age, the type of work, and whether or not school is in session. Minors ages 16 & 17 cannot work between 10 PM and midnight on a day before a school day without these two items:

1. Written permission from a parent or guardian; and 

2. A certificate of satisfactory academic standing from their school.

*If a minor is home-schooled, they can’t work during local public school hours. 

Minors of any age cannot work during school hours unless they have graduated or withdrawn from school.

When school is in session, minors 14 and 15 years of age cannot work:

• More than 3 hours on any school day;

• More than 8 hours on a Saturday or a non-school day;

• More than 18 hours in any week; and

• More than 6 days in any week.

See here to learn more about the exceptions based on occupation and industry.

Hiring

• Most New York employers must state the pay range in all job postings. 

• Employers are not allowed to inquire about salary history during the process of hiring. 

• Employment agencies are required to have a DCWP license to operate in New York City. 

  • Agencies cannot change any fees before placing employees in a job. 

  • Agencies are required to provide a contract and receipts.

• New York employment agencies can only use automated employment decision tools if they conduct a bias audit and provide notices to employees and candidates.

Firing
New York is an “Employment-at-Will” state. Employers have the right to terminate employees at will for nearly any reason and no reason at all provided the reason is not unlawful (e.g. discriminatory or retaliatory). Employees can also terminate their employment at any given time with or without notice. 

Fair Workweek for Retail in New York

The City of New York has enforced the Fair Workweek Law since November 26th, 2017, with a number of high-profile audits and fines issued to NYC businesses. 

The law aims to make work schedules more predictable for retail employees, which means a stable income and far less stress when making ends meet, planning childcare, or balancing their studies.

Under the law, certain retailers are required to meet the following obligations:

• Must give workers their schedules 72 hours (3 days) before the first shift on the schedule.

• This should include all shifts' dates, times, and locations and cover at least 7 days. 

• Must post the schedule so that everyone can see it in the workplace and transmit the schedule to each employee individually. 

• Cannot schedule employees for on-call shifts.

• Cannot cancel a scheduled shift with less than 72 hours notice.

• Cannot add hours or shifts to the schedule  with less than 72 hours’ notice unless the employee consents.

For all the essential need-to-know details, use our free factsheet to learn more here. 

Fair Workweek for Fast Food in New York

The City of New York has enforced the Fair Workweek Law since November 26th, 2017, with a number of high-profile audits and fines issued to NYC businesses. 

The law aims to make work schedules more predictable for fast food employees, which means a stable income and far less stress when making ends meet, planning childcare, or balancing their studies.

Fast food employers are covered by NYC’s Fair Workweek Law if they are part of a chain, primarily serve food and beverages, offer limited service, and are one of 30 or more establishments nationally. If the total number of a franchise brand’s fast food establishments is greater than 30, separately owned franchises must also comply with the Fair Workweek law.

Covered fast food employers that are required to provide employees with all of the following fair workweek entitlements:

• Regular schedules that stay the same week-to-week;

• Work schedules 14 days in advance of the start of the schedule;

• Premium pay for schedule changes or clopenings;

• A chance to decline extra work or clopenings;

• The opportunity to work more regular hours before hiring new employees;

• Just cause or a legitimate business reason before firing or reducing work hours by more than 15%; and

• Hours as they become available to laid-off employees by seniority.

For all the essential need-to-know details, use our free factsheet to learn more here.

→ Find out how Deputy can help you navigate fair workweek laws and protect your business