There are several changes to the New York State employment laws in 2018 which every employer should be aware of.

Minimum Pay Rate Increases

These are the new pay rates for upstate New York.  The rates for New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County are higher.

  1. The general minimum wage in upstate New York increases to $10.40 per hour effective December 31, 2017.
  1. The minimum wage for fast food workers in upstate New York increases to $11.75 per hour effective December 31, 2017.
  1. The minimum salary in upstate New York for exempt Executive and Administrative employees increases to $780.00 per week effective December 31, 2017.

Paid Family Leave Law

The New York Paid Family Leave Law takes effect on January 1, 2018. This law covers virtually every private sector employer in New York State.  Here is a link to a summary of this new law:

https://www.ny.gov/sites/ny.gov/files/atoms/files/PaidFamilyLeave_BusinessOwnerFactSheet.pdf

You should contact the insurance company which provides your New York short-term disability insurance to have this new benefit covered, if you haven’t already done so.

If you have an employee handbook, you are required to provide information about this benefit in the handbook.  If you do not have a handbook, you are required to provide written notice of this benefit to all employees.

Let us know if we can assist you in adding this required provision to your employee handbook, or in providing the required notice to your employees.  It may be a good time to see that your handbook and policies comply with other laws.

Proposed Call-in Pay Rule

It is likely that the New York Department of Labor proposed Call-in Pay Rule will take effect in early 2018.  Here is a link to the proposed Rule:

https://labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/pdfs/employee-scheduling-proposed-rule.pdf

Colligan Law is always prepared to assist you in complying with these laws and the many other laws which apply to employers.2018 New York Employment Law Update