Wages, Hours, and Payment

For workers in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, the minimum wage is $15.00 per hour. For workers in other parts of New York State, the minimum wage is $13.20 and set to increase every year on December 31 until it reaches $15.00 per hour. For workers in the fast food or hospitality industry, the minimum wage is $15.00 per hour regardless of where they work in the state.

General information about the minimum wage overall and by certain industries, as of December 31, 2021, is below:

Location	Basic Minimum Hourly Wage ¹	Building Service Industry ²	Farm Workers ³	Fast Food⁴ and Hospitality Industry ⁵
NYC	$15.00	$15.00⁶	$15.00	$15.00
Long Island & Westchester	$15.00	$15.00	$15.00	$15.00
Remainder of New York State	$13.20	$13.20	$13.20	$15.00

Overtime pay is a higher pay rate for hours worked after 40 in a work week. New York Labor Law requires employers to pay 1 ½ times your regular rate of pay (instead of your regular rate) for hours worked after 40 in a work week. Almost all workers are entitled to overtime pay, but there are some exceptions.

Example: A worker who receives $15.00 per hour is entitled to overtime pay of $22.50 per hour (1 ½ times the regular rate) for any hour he or she works after 40 hours in a work week.

There is no general legal limit on how long the employer can require adults to work, but you are entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked after 40 in a work week. Factories, stores, hotels, restaurants and some other employers are required to give all employees at least one full day of rest (24 consecutive hours) each calendar week. There are limits on how long people under age 18 can work, and for some workers, such as drivers, there are safety laws that limit how many hours of work is permissible. For more information, contact the New York State Department of Labor at (800) 662-1220 or visit https://www.labor.ny.gov, or contact the U.S. Department of Labor at 1-866-4-USWAGE or visit http://www.dol.gov.

Your employer may be able to pay you less than the normal minimum wage if all of the factors below are met:

You regularly receive tips as part of your job;
Your hourly tips and wage add up to at least the normal minimum wage;
Your employer informed you that it is paying you less than the minimum wage because you regularly receive tips; and
The employer keeps a weekly record of the amount of tips you earned each week.

But no tip credit is permitted for fast food employees.⁷ Tips can come in the form of cash, check, credit card, and any other form of payment.

The minimum wage and maximum allowable tip credit for food service workers and service workers, as of December 31, 2021, is below:

Tipped Food Service Workers	Minimum Hourly Wage (per hour)⁸	Maximum Credit for Tips Received (per hour)
NYC	$10.00	$5.00
Long Island & Westchester	$10.00	$5.00
Remainder of New York State	$8.80	$4.40
Tipped Service Workers⁹	Minimum Hourly Wage (per hour)	Maximum Credit for Tips Received (per hour)
NYC	$12.50	$2.50
Long Island & Westchester	$12.50	$2.50
Remainder of New York State	$12.50	$2.50

Some occupations are not subject to overtime requirements under both New York state law and the federal law. These include executive employees, administrative employees, and professional employees. But when the New York State minimum wage increases, the state’s minimum salary required for executive and administrative employees will also increase proportionally.

Executive and Adminstrative Salaried-Based Exemption	Minimum Salary Required (per week) as of 12/31/2021¹⁰
NYC	$1,125.00
Long Island & Westchester	$1,125.00
Remainder of New York State	$990.00

Your employer is required to pay at least the New York State basic minimum wage based on location. For farmworkers in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, the minimum wage is $15.00 per hour. For farmworkers in other parts of New York State, the minimum wage is $13.20 and set to increase every year on December 31 until it reaches $15.00 per hour.

Farmworkers also receive overtime pay, beginning after 60 hours of work per week¹¹ of 1.5 times your wage. Employers are also required to provide at least 24 hours of consecutive rest in a week. Unless you’re a seasonal worker, your employer may be able to deduct from your wages specific allowances such as for meals and lodging.

The table below shows the amounts your employer may deduct from your wages for certain allowances:

Allowances	Amount
Meal allowances (per meal)	$1.70
Lodging and Utilities: Single Occupancy (per week)	$18.95
Lodging and Utilities: Multiple Occupancy (per week)	$12.65
Lodging and Utilities: Employer-Furnished House/Apt Individual (per day)	$5.00
Lodging and Utilities: Employer-Furnished House/Apt Family (per day)	$8.00

For more information about farmworker pay, visit:

For retail and fast food workers¹² in New York City, employers must give advance notice of an employee’s scheduling change. If the notice of certain scheduling changes is not timely, the employer may be required to pay a premium to the employee.

For retail workers not covered by a collective bargaining agreement:

Employers must give 72 hours’ advance notice of an employee’s work schedule.
Employers must not request “on-call” shifts or “call-in” shifts from employees within 72 hours’ of the start of the shift.
Employers must not add shifts to an employee with less than 72 hours’ notice without the employee’s consent.
Employers must not cancel a shift with less than 72 hours’ notice.

For fast food workers:

Employers must give 14 days’ advance notice to the employee of their work schedule.
Employers must make a good faith estimate of the employee's schedule and provide to the employee their regular and first work schedules on or before their first day of work.
Employers must pay a $100 premium for employees who close a business location and then opens that location the following day.
Employers must give premium pay for all schedule changes in accordance with the chart below.

Premium Pay for Schedule Changes for Fast Food Workers
	Less than 14 days Notice	Less than 7 days Notice	Less than 24 hours Notice
Additional Hours or Shifts (per change)	$10.00	$15.00	$15.00
Changes to Shift Hours But Hours Loss (per change)	$10.00	$15.00	$15.00
Subtraction of Hours (per change)	$20.00	$45.00	$75.00
Cancellation of Shift (per change)	$20.00	$45.00	$75.00

For more information about protections for retail and fast food workers in New York City, visit:

What Fast Food Employers/Workers Need to Know.

To file a complaint with New York City:

Visit the workplace complaint page and submit a complaint (forms in multiple languages); or
Visit the OLPS intake form, fill out the form, and email it to OLPS@dca.nyc.gov; or
Call 311

For fast food workers in New York City, employers cannot fire an employee or reduce their average hours by more than 15% without “just cause.” In cases where an employer has an economic reason to fire an employee, the employer must fire employees in reverse order of seniority and must attempt to reinstate fired employees before hiring a new employee. If the employer does not have “just cause,” the employee must have the opportunity to be reinstated into their prior position or have their hours restored. NYC Admin Code § 20-1271.

For more information about protections for retail and fast food workers in New York City, visit:

What Fast Food Employers/Workers Need to Know.

To file a complaint with New York City:

Visit the workplace complaint page and submit a complaint (forms in multiple languages); or
Visit the OLPS intake form, fill out the form, and email it to OLPS@dca.nyc.gov; or
Call 311

If your hours of work are “split” (not consecutive), or if shift lasts more than ten hours, you may be entitled to one additional hour's pay for the day, at the New York State Minimum Wage hourly wage rate.

If you are required or permitted to report to work, even if you are not assigned actual work, you may be entitled to “call-in pay.” Usually, restaurant or hotel workers are entitled to three hours’ pay at the applicable minimum rate, and employees in other private workplaces are entitled to four hours’ pay at the applicable minimum rate.

Yes. If you are not in a union and do not have an employment contract, an employer may change the conditions of employment, including salary, provided that he or she pays at least the minimum wage and any required overtime, and continues to follow any other applicable laws. An employer may not, however, change your salary after the fact for time you have already worked, or change your salary or hours in retaliation for your exercise of rights protected by labor law.

If you work under a contract – either a collective-bargaining agreement or an individual contract – then the employer has to pay you the wage the contract calls for. Even without a contract, some workers may be legally entitled to a wage higher than the minimum wage, depending on the type of work and location.

For example, employees performing work on a “public works project” – usually construction projects performed for a government or public agency – may be entitled to a “prevailing wage” determined by the New York State Department of Labor’s Bureau of Public Work or (for jobs in New York City) the New York City Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law. Some building service workers, such as janitors, are also entitled to the prevailing wage when working under a government’s or public agency’s contract. For more information about prevailing wage requirements, contact the New York State Department of Labor, Bureau of Public Work at (800) 662-1220 or the New York City Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law at (212) 669-3500.

Additionally, some local laws within New York State require that certain employees working under a contract with the local government receive a “living wage” set by the law. Check with your local government to see if such laws apply to your employment.

It depends on your job. New York Labor Law section 191 generally provides:
Employee category	Required pay frequency:
Manual Worker (mechanic or laborer)	At least once a week, not more than a week after the wages were earned
Commission Salesperson	As agreed, but at least once a month – on written request, you are also entitled to a statement of earnings due
Other Types of Workers	At least twice a month, on a regular pay day designated in advance

Sometimes employers “misclassify” workers as independent contractors instead of employees. Independent contractors do not have as many rights as employees, and aren’t entitled to minimum wage and overtime protection. Whether you are an employee or independent contractor depends on a variety of factors that relate to the level of control that your employer has over your work. If you suspect that you have been misclassified as an independent contractor, please contact the Labor Bureau using our complaint form.

For more information, visit https://labor.ny.gov/ui/dande/ic.shtm

Employees have a right to sue to collect wages, but it is often more practical to complain to the Labor Standards Division of the New York State Department of Labor, which has many local offices around the state. To find the nearest office, you can check the Department of Labor’s website at https://www.labor.ny.gov/home/. You can also contact the Labor Bureau using our complaint form.

No. You have the right to report violations and it is against the law for your employer to retaliate against you, or punish you in any way for reporting violations. Employers who retaliate against workers for reporting violations are subject to a $10,000 penalty per violation, in addition to being liable for lost compensation and up to $10,000 per violation in liquidated damages.

¹12 NYCRR § 142.

²The Building Service Industry includes any person, corporation or establishment engaged in renting, servicing, cleaning, maintaining, selling, or managing buildings or buildings space, and all related occupations, operations, and services. 12 NYCRR § 141.

³12 NYCRR § 190. See also Farm Workers Wage Order Summary.

⁴A Fast Food Establishment is a business that primarily serves food or drinks, offers limited service, where customers order and pay before eating, and is part of a chain of 30 or more establishments nationally. 12 NYCRR § 146-3.13(b).

⁵The Hospitality Industry includes hotels and restaurants. 12 NYCRR § 146-3.1.

⁶12 NYCRR § 141-1.3. If the employee works in an executive or administrative capacity, see 12 NYCRR §141-3.2(c). If the employee works as a resident janitor, see 12 NYCRR §§141-3.4, 3.5, 3.10. If the employer does not launder a required uniform, see 12 NYCRR §141-3.11.

⁷12 NYCRR § 146-1.3(c).

⁸Where an employer provides lodging or meals, refer to the maximum allowed credits provided in 12 NYCRR § 146. If the employee works in an executive or administrative capacity, see 12 NYCRR §146-3.2(c).

⁹A Service Employee is an employee, other than a food service worker or fast food employee, who customarily receives tips at or above the tip threshold rate in 12 NYCRR §146-1.3(a). 12 NYCRR § 146-3.3(a).

¹⁰12 NYCRR § 141-3.2(c)(1)(i)(e)(3); N.Y. Dep’t of Labor, Miscellaneous Industry Wage Order Summary, Wage Order Summary (last visited July 29, 2021).

¹¹Order of Commisioner Roberta Reardon regarding pursuant to labor law sections 674(a) and 656

¹²A “fast food employee” means any person employed by or permitted to work at or for a fast food establishment by any employer where such person’s job duties include at least one of the following: customer service, cooking, food or drink preparation, delivery, security, stocking supplies or equipment, cleaning or routine maintenance. “Fast food employee” does not include any employee who is salaried. NYC Admin Code § 20-1201.