With the new year upon us, employees across New York State should be aware of several changes and updates to labor and employment laws that may affect them. Below, we highlight some of the noteworthy changes to city and State law that have already taken place or are yet to come in 2025.
- Increases to Minimum Wages and Thresholds for Exempt Salaries – Effective January 1, 2025, hourly workers in New York City, Westchester County, and Long Island must be paid at least $16.50 per hour and an overtime rate of $24.75 for any hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Hourly workers in the remainder of New York State must be paid $15.50 per hour and $23.25 for any overtime hours worked. Hourly workers can expect these rates to increase again on January 1, 2026. However, home healthcare workers and service workers who receive tips are subject to separate hourly minimum wage rates.
Additionally, as of January 1, 2025, the weekly minimum salary threshold to be overtime exempt increased from $1,200.00 to $1,237.50 per week in New York City, Westchester County, and Long Island. For employees in the remainder of New York State, the weekly salary threshold increased from $1,124.20 to $1,161.65 per week. These salary thresholds are also set to increase on January 1, 2026.
- Paid Prenatal Leave – On January 1, 2025, New York became the first State to require employers provide pregnant workers with up to 20 hours of paid leave each year to attend medical appointments or procedures that relate to their pregnancy. This new law, which allows pregnant employees to use the 20 hours incrementally, applies to all private-sector employees and does not have to be accrued, meaning all 20 hours of leave are available immediately. This 20-hour bank of paid leave must be given in addition to the paid family leave pregnant employees are already entitled to under New York law and must be made available to those workers in its entirety upon their hiring. Note that employers do not need to pay out the 20 hours to pregnant employees upon their termination or resignation, if unused.
- COVID-19 Sick Leave – Effective July 31, 2025, employees will no longer be entitled to COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave under the COVID-19 Emergency Leave Law, enacted in March 2020. Under the COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave, employees under mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19 are eligible to receive a certain amount of paid or unpaid leave, depending on their employer’s size. That said, after July 31, 2025, employees may still use other qualifying paid leave for COVID-19-related reasons.
- New York Retail Worker Safety Act – Effective March 3, 2025, retail stores with at least ten employees must: (i) develop and implement a written policy to help prevent violence against retail workers at the workplace; (ii) provide employees with annual training on workplace violence prevention; and (iii) distribute notices detailing those policies and information regarding the training. The new law seeks to curtail workplace violence in the retail industry, which unfortunately, exposes retail workers to higher risks of violence due to conditions specific to the retail industry.
While New York State’s Department of Labor (“DOL”) will issue a model written policy for retail employers to review and adopt, those employers may implement their own policies that meet or exceed the minimum standards provided by the DOL.
Additionally, effective January 1, 2027, retail employers with 500 or more employees nationwide must install “panic buttons” throughout their New York locations that immediately contact law enforcement.
Individuals who believe that they have not been paid correctly or have been incorrectly classified as exempt from overtime under federal and/or State law should seek legal counsel to analyze their potential claims.