Key Takeaways:

• New York increases salary threshold for labor law exemptions effective March 13, 2024

• New York State Department of Labor adopts proposed regulations

• New York minimum wage and salary exemption levels increase effective January 1, 2024

Gov. Hochul signed S5572/A6796, which increases the threshold for applicability of wage-payment protections under Article 6 of the New York Labor law for certain persons employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, from $900 to $1,300 per week.

The law becomes effective on March 13, 2024.

The Minimum Wage rate varies by region and industry, and will be increased on January 1, 2024. Specifically, the minimum wage is scheduled to increase on January 1, 2024 to $16.00 per hour for New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, and to $15.00 per hour for the rest of the state. In addition to this increase, the labor law provides further increases by $0.50 per year on January 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026.

In October 2023, the New York State Department of Labor released proposed regulations to increase the salary threshold for minimum wage and overtime exemptions under the New York Labor Law. After a comment period, and on December 27, 2023, those changes were adopted by the NYSDOL in the New York State Registrar. Employers should audit their employees that are currently classified as exempt to ensure they are still properly classified.

Refer to part 1 of this four part alert series here.