These laws and rules changes impact minimum wage, hours and overtime exemption requirements; paid family leave insurance rates; minimum paid and unpaid leave requirements; impose a state-wide prohibition on “stay-or-pay” training repayment agreements; and other employer obligations. Employers should review and update their existing workplace policies and practices to ensure compliance with these statutory and regulatory mandates and changes.
Here is a summary of recently enacted laws or rule changes that change or impose new compliance obligations on New York employers in 2026.
Increases to $17.00/hour (NYC, Long Island, Westchester) and $16.00/hour (remainder of New York State) effective on January 1, 2026, with future inflation-based adjustments starting in 2027. Beginning January 1, 2027, subsequent minimum wage increases will be tied to the three-year average of a regional consumer price index.
The New York minimum salary level to qualify for the executive and administrative overtime exemptions is rising. Effective January 1, 2026, the following salary thresholds for the executive and administrative exemptions will take effect: (1) for New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, the minimum salary will be $1,275.00/week (annualized to $66,300.00/year); and (2) for the remainder of New York State, the minimum salary will be $1,199.10/week (annualized to $62,353.20/year). Note that New York does not have a...
In an extraordinary message to Norway’s prime minister, President Donald Trump linked his pursuit of the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize. H...