2021 New York State Wage and Hour Laws

2 key updates to the NYS wage payment laws are the increases to state minimum wage and the salary threshold required to classify a worker as exempt from overtime compensation.

The 2021 minimum wages for most NYS employees are:

New York City: $15.00/hour

Long Island and Westchester: $14.00/hour

Remainder of NYS: $12.50/hour

Salary Basis Test for Exempt Employees:

Application of the exemption from applicable minimum wage and/or overtime compensation laws requires satisfying both a salary test and a duties test. Historically, the analysis largely rested on the duties test, since the threshold for meeting the salary test was artificially low. However, unlike under federal law, where the required salary threshold remains relatively low, New York State’s salary threshold has increased to a dollar amount significant enough to render many New York employees non-exempt (and therefore subject to minimum wage and overtime premium pay requirements) without even reaching the duties test.

The minimum weekly salary required to satisfy the exemption standard are:

New York City: $1,125/week ($58,500 annualized)

Long Island and Westchester: $1,050/week ($54,600 annualized)

Remainder of NYS: $937.50/week ($48,750 annualized)

Electronic Paystubs for Employees Receiving Direct Deposit:

Additionally, effective April 5, 2021, an employee who requests direct deposit of a paycheck may opt-out at the employee’s discretion, of receiving a paper pay stub and instead receive electronic confirmation of the information that would otherwise be included in the pay stub. Employers must continue to provide pay stubs to those employees who do not opt out of such requirement.