State of New York (NY) Employment Laws

Special Updates

State Minimum Wage Will Increase to $9.00 Per Hour Over Next Three Years

Governor Cuomo and state legislative leaders have announced that the minimum wage in New York will rise to $8.00 per hour, effective December 31, 2013, as part of a budget plan containing several provisions affecting employers. The enacted budget includes additional increases in New York's state minimum wage over the next several years, as follows:

• $8.75 per hour beginning December 31, 2014; and
• $9.00 per hour beginning December 31, 2015 (or if greater at that time, the federal minimum wage or other wage established under state law).

Other highlights of the state's budget plan include a number of tax credits for employers:

• Minimum Wage Reimbursement Credit. For taxable years 2014 through 2018, qualified employers hiring certain student workers, who are between 16 and 19 years of age and are paid the minimum wage, may be eligible for a tax credit.
• Hire a Vet Credit. For taxable years 2015 and 2016, qualified employers may be eligible for a tax credit for hiring certain qualified veterans (at least 35 hours per week) for at least one year.
• Youth Works Tax Credit. The Youth Works Tax Credit, which may be available to qualified employers for hiring certain low-income and at-risk youths, has been extended. To participate in the program, employers must submit an application at certain intervals during 2014 through 2017.

Additional information is available on the minimum wage increase and the tax credits in the budget law.

September 7, 2012: Wage Deductions Law Amended

Governor Cuomo signed into law A10785-2011, which amends the state’s Wage Deductions Law. Key provisions of the amendments include the following:

• Establishment of additional categories of permissible wage deductions that may be taken by employers with the consent of employees.
• Limits on deductions for certain items by requiring that the aggregate amount of such purchases within a pay period not exceed a maximum amount established by the employer, as well as a maximum limit established by the employee; deductions for such purchases are not permitted when they exceed the lower of these two limits. An employer would also be obligated to provide an employee with information regarding purchases and a running total of all charges that would be deducted from the employee's wages on the next payday.
• Use of wage deductions to recapture overpayments of wages due to clerical or mathematical error or for repayment of advances on wages paid to employees.

Employee authorizations to permitted deductions must be kept on file on the employer's premises for the period during which the employee is employed by the employer and for 6 years after employment ends.

The amendments are effective November 6, 2012. You may read the amendments in their entirety by clicking here.

April 12, 2012: Establishment of New York Statewide Health Exchange

Governor Cuomo has issued an Executive Order to establish a statewide Health Exchange to allow New Yorkers to obtain health coverage and facilitate the purchase and sale of qualified health plans in the state. Additionally, the Exchange will ensure that eligible small businesses and individuals receive premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions. As required by the Affordable Care Act, the Exchange is expected to be operational by January 1, 2014. Please click here for more information.

June 24, 2011: New York Enacts Marriage Equality Act

Governor Cuomo has signed into law the Marriage Equality Act, granting same-sex couples in New York who seek to marry equal status under the law as well as the same rights, benefits and protections available to married couples of the opposite sex.

The Marriage Equality Act amends New York's Domestic Relations Law to state:

• A marriage that is otherwise valid shall be valid regardless of whether the parties to the marriage are of the same or different sex.
• No government treatment or legal status, effect, right, benefit, privilege, protection or responsibility relating to marriage shall differ based on the parties to the marriage being the same sex or a different sex.
• No application for a marriage license shall be denied on the ground that the parties are of the same or a different sex.

The Marriage Equality Act becomes effective July 24, 2011.

For more information, you may read the bill in its entirety by clicking here. The bill memo is available here. You may also view the press release. Tax-related information is also available from the NY Department of Taxation and Finance.

December 14, 2010: New York Wage Theft Prevention Act Signed into Law

New York Governor David A. Paterson has signed into law the Wage Theft Prevention Act, which addresses the failure by some employers to pay statutorily-mandated minimum wages and overtime by requiring annual notifications of wages, expanding notifications, enhancing available remedies for wage law violations and strengthening whistleblower protections. The bill would enact a wide-ranging series of measures to provide information to workers on the wages they are owed, and to heighten sanctions on those who fail to pay their workers the compensation to which they are entitled.

The Wage Theft Prevention Act:

• Enacts more stringent and transparent record-keeping and employee notification requirements;
• Increases the amount of wages that can be recovered as damages in a suit for non-payment over and above the lost wages themselves - from 25 percent to 100 percent, the amount allowable under Federal law;
• Creates stronger collection tools;
• Raises criminal penalties for failure to pay minimum wage to up to a year in prison and $5,000 fine; and
• Strengthens protections for whistleblowers in cases involving wage violations.

The Act takes effect on April 9, 2011.

To view the New York State Department of Labor's press release, please click here. 

August 31, 2010: New York Enacts Domestic Worker Law

The State of New York has enacted the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights, that changes a variety of employment laws related to domestic workers.  Among other changes, the bill provides domestic workers:

• The right to overtime pay at time and a half after 40 hours of work in a week, or 44 hours for in-home workers;
• A day of rest every seven days, or overtime pay if it is waived;
• Three paid days of rest annually after one year of work;
• The removal of the domestic workers exemption from the Human Rights Law, and the creation of a special cause of action for domestic workers who suffer sexual or racial harassment; and
• The extension of statutory disability benefits to domestic workers, to the same degree as other workers.

The new law is effective November 29, 2010. For more information, please click here.

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