New York labor law, encoded as policies you can deploy.
Every wage, hour, break, leave, and scheduling rule a New York employer must follow — from the two-tier $17/$16 minimum wage to § 191 manual worker weekly pay (with the May 2025 damages reform), spread-of-hours premiums, NYC Fair Workweek and just-cause termination, NY-WARN, and ESSTA's Feb 2026 expansions — built into Teambridge as a working policy with the right enforcement level applied automatically.
Last updated: May 4, 202625 policies coveredReviewed against NYSDOL & NYC DCWP 2026 guidance
Active
⋮
Spread of Hours Premium
Detects daily spread > 10 hrs (start to end, including unpaid breaks). 1 hr at minimum wage on long-spread days.
Premium owed when spread > 10
Active
⋮
Manual Worker Weekly Pay — § 191
Tags 25%+ physical labor roles. Schedules weekly pay within 7 days of week-end. Tracks May 2025 amendment status.
Biweekly schedule for manual workerTag based on physical-labor share
Active
⋮
NYC Fair Workweek + Just Cause
14-day or 72-hour notice; predictability pay; clopening with consent; 30-day probation tracker; 15%+ hour reduction = discharge.
Schedule under required notice
Compliance, on autopilot.
Every New York rule below runs as a live policy in Teambridge. A 6-hour shift without a meal period isn't illegal at hour 5 — but the lunch must begin by hour 6, and Teambridge prompts the worker. A late final paycheck is illegal — § 191 + § 198 means 100% liquidated damages plus interest plus attorney fees. Each rule gets the right severity, applied automatically.
Optimize
Silently routes around the issue.
Flag
Surfaces a note. Action proceeds.
Avoid
Warns and discourages. Allows override.
Critical
Strong warning. Requires acknowledgment.
Block
Hard stop. Cannot proceed.
SofterHarder
Your New York Policy Library
Day one in Teambridge, with New York pre-configured
This is what your Policy Builder looks like the moment you turn on New York coverage. Every policy here is editable — change severity, scope by location or role, or extend with your own client-specific rules.
on a card means the policy surfaces in the worker app. Cards without it run silently in the background.
25 New York policies, configured by default. Add your own — by client, role, or site — at any time.
01Minimum wage
New York runs a two-tier minimum wage. $17.00/hour in NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties (downstate). $16.00/hour in the rest of the state (upstate). Both took effect January 1, 2026 — the final year of scheduled increases before annual CPI indexing kicks in starting 2027. Unlike California, NY does permit a tip credit: tipped service workers earn $14.15/hr cash + $2.85 tip credit (downstate); tipped food service workers earn $11.35/hr cash + $5.65 credit. If actual tips don't bring the worker to full minimum, the employer must true up.
Active
⋮
Regional Minimum Wage Routing
Resolves shift location to the correct tier (downstate $17 / upstate $16). Annual CPI updates apply automatically each January 1 starting 2027.
Block save below regional minimumTag shift with controlling rate
?
Why tier by county, not zip code
NY's downstate/upstate split runs by county boundary, not by metro area or zip code. Putnam and Rockland counties are downstate geographically but get the upstate rate; Westchester gets the downstate rate. County-level resolution is the only way to be reliably correct.
New York Labor Law § 191(1)(a) requires that "manual workers" — employees who spend 25% or more of their time on physical labor — be paid weekly, no later than 7 calendar days after the end of the workweek. The definition is broad: drivers, hair stylists, security guards, retail employees, restaurant staff, and warehouse workers all typically qualify. The May 9, 2025 amendment to NYLL § 198 dramatically reduced first-violation damages from 100% liquidated to lost interest only (~16%/year). Repeat offenders still face the full penalty. Class-action exposure dropped by an order of magnitude — but the substantive weekly-pay duty hasn't changed.
Active
⋮
Manual Worker Weekly Pay
Tags 25%+ physical labor roles as manual workers. Schedules weekly pay within 7 days of week-end. Compliance log tracks first-violation vs. repeat status under the May 2025 amendment.
Biweekly pay scheduled for manual workerRole tag based on physical-labor share
?
Why Critical, not Block
Some employers have NYSDOL waivers (about 200 large employers approved as of May 2025) permitting semi-monthly pay for manual workers. A blanket Block would override legitimate waivers. Critical surfaces the issue, lets the override be logged with the waiver reference, and creates the audit trail.
New York has no daily overtime — only weekly. Most workers earn 1.5× past 40 hours/week; residential employees past 44; agricultural workers past 52 in 2026 (phasing to 40 by 2032). What NY adds that few states have is the spread of hours premium under 12 NYCRR § 142-2.4: when the interval between the start and end of a workday exceeds 10 hours — even with unpaid breaks in between — the worker earns one additional hour at the basic minimum wage rate (not their regular rate). Easy to miss because most timekeeping systems track hours worked, not start-to-end spread.
Active
⋮
Spread of Hours Premium
Tracks daily spread (clock-in to clock-out, including unpaid breaks). Pays 1 hour at the regional minimum wage when spread exceeds 10 hours. Schedule preview shows projected premium cost.
Scheduling spread > 10 hrs without budgetPremium owed on long-spread day
?
Why minimum wage rate, not regular rate
Unlike California's break premiums (Ferra requires regular rate), NY's spread-of-hours premium is fixed at the basic minimum wage. A worker earning $30/hr still gets a $17 (or $16) spread premium. NY's rule is structurally simpler — but easy to miscalculate if you're applying CA logic.
New York Labor Law § 162 ties meal period rules to shift timing, not just length. Non-factory workers (most retail, hospitality, healthcare): 30-minute lunch in the 11am-2pm window for shifts of 6+ hours; 45 minutes at the midpoint for shifts starting between 1pm and 6am; an additional 20 minutes between 5pm-7pm for shifts that start before 11am and extend past 7pm. Factory workers get 60 minutes instead of 30 (and 60 instead of 45 for afternoon/night). The 20-minute rule still applies on top. There are no required rest breaks in NY — but if rest breaks are given (under 20 min), they must be paid.
Active Worker app
⋮
Meal Period Compliance
Detects shift patterns to determine which meal rule applies. Schedules required breaks, prompts at the right time in worker app, logs duty-free time. Distinguishes factory (60 min) from non-factory (30 / 45 / 20 min).
6+ hr shift without scheduled mealPer-shift meal compliance status
?
Why timing-based, not just length-based
NY's three meal rules trigger on when the shift runs, not just how long. A 7-hour shift starting at 9am gets a different break than a 7-hour shift starting at 5pm. And a 12-hour day shift gets both a 30-min lunch and an additional 20-min dinner break. Pattern detection at schedule time prevents missed prompts.
NY Labor Law § 196-b requires 40 hours of paid sick leave (employers with 5-99 employees) or 56 hours (100+). Workers accrue at 1 hour per 30 worked or employers can frontload. Effective January 1, 2025, NY became the first state to require 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per 52-week period — a separate bank from sick leave, available in hourly increments, with no medical documentation allowed. NYC ESSTA (amended Feb 22, 2026) layers on top: 32 hours of unpaid time immediately available on hire and at start of each calendar year, plus expanded qualifying reasons (workplace violence, public disasters, caregiver responsibilities, subsistence/housing proceedings).
Active Worker app
⋮
Layered Leave Tracking
Three banks tracked separately: paid PSL (40 or 56 hrs by employer size), unpaid ESSTA for NYC workers (32 hrs), and paid prenatal (20 hrs / 52-week period). Each bank visible on every wage statement. NYC location triggers ESSTA layering automatically.
Accrual on every payrollDenying expanded ESSTA reasons
?
Why three banks, not one combined
The three benefits have different rules, eligibility, accrual logic, and statutes. Paid PSL accrues; ESSTA's 32 unpaid hours are immediately available on hire; prenatal is hourly-increment with privacy protections. Bundling them into one balance breaks the law's structure — and makes audit defense impossible.
New York City has two parallel Fair Workweek regimes plus a unique just-cause termination rule for fast food workers. Fast food (chains 30+ locations nationally): 14-day advance schedules, predictability pay $10-$75 for changes, $100 + written consent for clopening shifts (under 11 hours between close and open), hours-offered to existing workers before new hires. Retail (20+ NYC employees): 72-hour advance schedules and on-call shifts entirely prohibited — workers can refuse late-notice shifts without retaliation. Just cause (fast food after 30-day probation): no more at-will. Termination requires documented cause, and a 15%+ reduction in average weekly hours counts as a discharge.
Active Worker app
⋮
NYC Fair Workweek + Just Cause
Per-shift coverage detection (fast food vs. retail thresholds). 14-day or 72-hour publish enforcement. Predictability pay tiers auto-applied. Clopening blocked without consent. 30-day probation tracker. Hour-reduction monitoring vs. 12-week rolling average.
Schedule under required noticeTermination requires just cause
?
Why three rules, not one
Fast food and retail have different thresholds (30 locations vs. 20 NYC employees), different notice windows (14 days vs. 72 hours), different penalty structures (predictability pay vs. shift-refusal protections), and different termination rules (just cause for fast food only). A single Fair Workweek policy would conflate them and fail.
Unlike California, New York's final paycheck timing is simple: next regular payday, regardless of whether the worker quit or was terminated. Manual workers stay on weekly cycles. Vacation pays out unless a written policy expressly forfeits it (NY treats vacation as wages). Late payment triggers § 198 — 100% liquidated damages, 9% interest, attorney fees, six-year statute of limitations. NY-WARN (NYLL § 860) is more stringent than federal: covers employers with 50+ employees (vs. federal 100+), requires 90 days advance notice (vs. federal 60), and triggers at lower thresholds — 25 workers if 33%+ of workforce, or 250+ regardless. Also covers relocations 50+ miles. Penalty: $500/day per affected worker for inadequate notice.
Active
⋮
Final Paycheck & WARN Coverage
Final pay scheduled for next regular payday with all wages, accrued vacation, premiums, commissions. WARN coverage analysis at any planned layoff (50+ employer threshold + four trigger types). 90-day notice generation for affected workers, union, local elected official, school district, NYSDOL.
Why simpler than CA, but with bigger six-year teeth
NY doesn't have CA's same-day-immediate rule on involuntary termination — next regular payday is fine. But NY's six-year statute of limitations and 100% liquidated damages mean a small final-paycheck error from 2020 surfacing in 2026 still has full force. The deadline is forgiving; the lookback is not.
If you're updating handbooks or pay engines, these are the changes that triggered policy updates in Teambridge for 2026:
Minimum wage reached its scheduled peak: $17/hr downstate (NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester) and $16/hr upstate, effective January 1, 2026. Annual CPI indexing begins January 1, 2027.
Exempt salary thresholds increased to $66,300/yr downstate ($1,275/week) and $62,353.20/yr upstate ($1,199.10/week) for executive and administrative exemptions.
NYC ESSTA expansion took effect February 22, 2026 — added 32 hours of immediately-available unpaid safe/sick time, expanded qualifying reasons (workplace violence, public disasters, caregiver responsibilities, subsistence/housing proceedings), and codified paid prenatal leave with a $500/employee/year penalty for non-compliance.
§ 191 manual worker damages reform (May 9, 2025) remains the most important wage-and-hour development in NY history: first-violation damages reduced from 100% liquidated to lost interest only (~16%/yr). Repeat offenders still face full 100% penalty. Class-action exposure reset.
Agricultural overtime threshold dropped from 56 hours/week to 52 hours/week on January 1, 2026 — the second of five biennial reductions on the path to a 40-hour threshold by 2032.
Tipped wage rates updated alongside the minimum: tipped service workers now $14.15 cash + $2.85 credit (downstate); tipped food service workers $11.35 + $5.65 credit (downstate). Trueup obligations unchanged.
15% surcharge on unpaid wage judgments (effective with Apr 2025 budget) — NYSDOL gained warrant authority and enhanced collection mechanisms to recover unpaid wages and penalties.
NYC enforcement intensified — Mayor Mamdani's administration issued 56,000+ warning letters in early 2026 enforcing ESSTA, Fair Workweek, and Just Cause requirements.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum wage in New York in 2026?
$17.00/hour in NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties (downstate). $16.00/hour in the rest of the state (upstate). Both rates took effect January 1, 2026 — the final scheduled increase before annual CPI indexing begins in 2027. Tipped service workers earn $14.15/hr cash + $2.85 tip credit; tipped food service workers earn $11.35/hr cash + $5.65 credit (downstate rates). Unlike California, NY permits a tip credit if tips actually bring the worker to full minimum.
Does New York have daily overtime?
No. New York has no daily overtime — only weekly. Most non-exempt workers earn 1.5× past 40 hours per workweek. Residential employees (live-in domestic workers, building staff) earn OT past 44 hours. Agricultural workers earn OT past 52 hours/week in 2026, phasing down 4 hours every two years to 40 by 2032. There is no NY equivalent to California's daily 8-hour rule.
What changed for manual worker weekly pay in May 2025?
The May 9, 2025 amendment to NYLL § 198 dramatically reduced damages for first-time violations of § 191(1)(a) (manual worker weekly pay) from 100% liquidated damages to lost interest only (~16% per year). Repeat offenders still face the full 100% penalty. The change was prompted by the Vega line of cases that had created enormous class-action exposure. Substantively, manual workers (25%+ physical labor) must still be paid weekly within 7 days of the workweek end.
What does NYC Fair Workweek require?
Two parallel laws. Fast food (chains 30+ locations nationally): 14-day advance schedules, predictability pay $10-$75 for changes inside the window, $100 + written consent for clopening shifts, hours-offered-first to existing workers. Retail (20+ NYC employees): 72-hour advance schedules; on-call shifts entirely prohibited; right to refuse late-notice changes without retaliation. Just-cause termination is a third layer for fast food workers after a 30-day probation period, including 15%+ hour reductions counting as discharges.
Does New York require paid prenatal leave?
Yes — first state in the nation. Effective January 1, 2025, all NY employers must provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per 52-week rolling period for healthcare services received during pregnancy. Hourly increments allowed. Separate bank from sick leave and PFL. Employers cannot require disclosure of medical records as a condition. NYC ESSTA codified the requirement effective February 22, 2026 with $500/employee/year penalties.
What's the NY-WARN Act threshold?
Stricter than federal. NY-WARN covers employers with 50+ NYS full-time employees (federal = 100+) and requires 90 days advance notice (federal = 60). Triggers: plant closing affecting 25+ workers; mass layoff of 25+ if 33%+ of workforce, or 250+ regardless; 50%+ hour reduction for 6+ months; relocation 50+ miles. Penalty for inadequate notice: back wages and benefits up to 90 days plus $500/day per affected worker.
What's the difference between Critical and Block in Policy Builder?
Block is a hard stop — no override, no exception. Use it for things that are flat-out illegal (paying below regional minimum, classifying someone exempt below the threshold, scheduling on-call shifts in NYC retail, terminating during 90-day WARN window without notice). Critical is a strong warning that requires explicit acknowledgment but allows the action to proceed — use it for things that are operationally normal but compliance-sensitive (a manual worker on biweekly pay where a NYSDOL waiver may apply, a clopening shift with consent obtained, a fast food termination with documented just cause).