The New York State Department of Labor’s “Hospitality Wage Order” (“wage order”) took effect on January 1, 2011. The wage order brings the restaurant and hotel industries under a single set of laws and abolishes the former orders which dealt with these industries separately. While the wage order modifies a number of current requirements relating to wages, uniforms and employee meals, as set forth below in more detail, it also subjects gratuities to regulations for the first time in New York State.