New York Minimum Wage — As of January 1, 2026, the minimum wage in New York is $17.00 per hour in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, and $16.00 per hour everywhere else in the state. For restaurant and hospitality workers, lower cash wages apply: food-service workers (servers, bartenders) receive $11.35 per hour in cash wages in the NYC metro area and $10.70 elsewhere, with tip credits filling the gap to the full minimum — and the employer must make up any shortfall if tips come up short. Overtime is 1.5 times your regular rate for hours over 40 per week, and New York sets higher salary thresholds than federal law for exempt status — salaried workers earning under $1,275/week in the NYC metro ($1,199.10/week upstate) are still owed overtime. If your employer isn’t paying you correctly, contact Frisch Law Firm for a free consultation.
Meal Breaks
Employees who work a shift of more than six hours starting before 11 A.M. and continuing until 2 P.M. must have an uninterrupted lunch period of at least half an hour between 11 A.M. and 2 P.M.
Last Paycheck
When employment has been terminated, New York Wage and Hour Law requires the employer must pay the wages by the regular payday for the pay period worked. If requested, the employer must mail the final wages to the employee.
Recordkeeping
Employers’ payroll records must contain the following information regarding their employees: (1) Name, address and social security number; (2) Wage rate; (3) The number of hours worked daily and weeklyl; (4) The amount of gross wages, deductions from gross wages and net wages paid; (5) Allowances claimed, if any, as part of the minimum wage; (6) The time of arrival and departure of each employee working a split shift or spread of more than ten hours; and (7) The number of units produced daily and weekly by piece-rate workers.
Notice of Pay Rate and Payday for New Hires
Starting on October 26, 2009, New York employers must give newly-hired workers written notice of the rate at which they will be paid and their regular payday, under Section 195.1 of New York’s Labor Law. The notice must be given to new employees before they do any work.
The written notice must also include the employee’s overtime rate of pay, if they qualify for overtime. Most employees must receive overtime pay at one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours they work over 40 in a given week. A very few occupations are not covered by the overtime provisions of labor law, such as farm workers and professionals.
No particular form is required. Employers may create their own forms, or use and/or adapt a sample form available at the link below. In the near future, sample forms for a variety of pay agreements (salaried, prevailing rate, exempt, and others) will be provided here.
To learn more about New York Wage and Hour Law and New York Overtime Law visit the New York Department of Labor at http://www.labor.state.ny.us/workerprotection/laborstandards/faq.shtm
