Who Was Most Affected?

The minimum wage increase mainly supported lower-paid professionals including:

• Retail and store workers
• Manual laborers and shift workers
• Customer service teams
• Service professionals receiving tips
• Food and hospitality staff

Although this rise may sound small, it set the foundation for future wage reforms and created immediate payroll adjustments for both employers and employees.

Major Reforms for Tipped Service Advisors and Service Workers

Service staff, especially in food and automobile-related shops, often rely on tip income. Employers can apply a tip credit, allowing them to pay a lower hourly base so long as tips compensate the difference to reach minimum wage. However, lawmakers restricted how large this credit could be.

For service employers and restaurants, the maximum tip credit was reduced:

• From $3.50 per hour
• To $1.50 per hour

As result, the required minimum base pay for tipped workers rose:

• From $5.00 per hour
• To $7.50 per hour

This shift ensured tipped employees received a stronger guaranteed hourly component, regardless of customer volume or slow business days.

Overtime Wage Impact

Both federal and state law mandate that overtime must be paid at 1.5× hourly rate. Based on the new $9.00 minimum wage, the updated 2015 overtime rate became:

• $13.50 per hour, up from $13.13

Even though the DOL announced that withdrawal did not change legal responsibilities, many automotive and food employers had to revisit payroll calculations, overtime approval processes, and worker classification assumptions.

Workplace Classification Still Matters

Interpretations from agencies like the United States Department of Labor shaped employer policy for years. Still, courts now rely more on job duties than old handbook references. Employers using outdated assumptions may face pay misclassification claims.

What Employers Must Do Now

To maintain compliance and avoid liability, companies should update:

Dispute-resolution strategy with legal support

Pay benchmarking systems

Tipped worker payroll models

Overtime calculations

Internal wage-classification reviews

If you have questions about New York’s new minimum wage rate, contact our office to speak with an experienced attorney.

These changes were widely seen as response to evolving workforce needs, demographic shifts, caregiver responsibility growth, and rising workplace discrimination claims nationwide.

New York Key Bills That Increased Worker Protections

The new legislation targeted enforcement gaps, ambiguous legal language, and accommodation loopholes affecting smaller workplaces. Here are five of most notable updates:

1. Sexual Harassment Protections Now Cover All Employers

Previously, companies with fewer than 4 employees were exempt under the human rights statute. Now, all employers in New York are covered in sexual harassment cases, regardless of workforce size. This means:

• No more minimum-employee exemptions for harassment claims
• Protection applies to interns, contractors, hourly staff, and small-business workers
• Covers hostile environment and retaliation cases when harassment reported

2. Pay Equity Law Strengthened With Clearer Language

The equal pay statute was updated to correct a long-debated phrase: “any factor other than sex.” The new law now requires “a bona fide factor other than sex” such as:

• Education, verified training, or industry certification
• Demonstrated experience in similar job duties
• Licensed or accredited role-specific skill requirements

This change makes pay decisions more defensible while preventing vague salary exceptions.

3. Familial Status Becomes a Protected Category

For first time, familial status joins protected categories under New York’s Human Rights Law. This covers discrimination tied to:

• Being parent or primary caregiver
• Supporting dependent family members
• Denial of opportunity due to household responsibility assumptions

This reform aligned statute more closely with modern workforce households.

4. Legal Remedies Expanded But Only for Sex-Based Discrimination

Under new rules, attorney’s fees may now be awarded as damages in sex-based discrimination cases only. In other forms of discrimination, fee awards are still not permitted. This means:

• Higher chance of obtaining counsel for gender discrimination cases
• Stronger deterrent for pay and hiring bias by employers
• More complete remedies for victims with imbalance bargaining power

5. Pregnancy Discrimination Must Be Treated as Temporary Disability

Employers are now required to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related conditions — as long as worker can perform job duties in “reasonable manner.” Covered accommodations include:

• Temporary removal from hazardous work
• Modified manual labor duty requirements
• Rest breaks when medically justified
• Workstation or schedule adjustments

Employees must verify condition with documentation. Once notice provided, employers must begin interactive accommodation discussions or risk liability.

Challenges Employers Now Face

Even companies with structured HR analytics may struggle applying inferences fairly. Courts now favor job-duty based analysis, documented reasoning, and transparent compensation benchmarking. Companies failing update policies may face claims tied to:

• Hiring bias
• Pay inequity
• Retaliation after internal reports
• Disparate impact from automated screening criteria

For questions or concerns about this new legislation, contact our office to speak with an attorney.

Prior to this new legislation, direct deposit was the method of payment expressly mentioned under New York State labor laws. Many employers interpreted the regulations to include payroll debit cards, even without any express language on the issue. Employers find this payment method attractive because it costs less than producing a paper check, which is often the only available payment method for the growing number of workers without a traditional bank account. But, it is a system prime for rampant abuse and problems.

The New York Attorney General’s Office previously opined that payroll debit cards were an expensive option for the employees who use them, due to high ATM costs and other fees.  To counter this problem, the new legislation mandates that:

• Payment on a debit card is only allowed with voluntary consent from workers; and
• There must be at least at least one ATM network that charges no fees for access to the money.

Legislators hope that the new changes will clear up any confusion about the use of payroll debit cards and protect the interests of employees.

If you have questions about payroll regulations, contact our office to speak with an attorney today.

For many years, companies relied on credit scores, credit reports, late payments, charged-off debt, bankruptcies, and account details to filter job candidates or evaluate internal staff. Studies and class-wide discrimination claims have repeatedly demonstrated that this practice disproportionately impacts minority groups, lower-income households, women, caregivers, immigrants, students, and traditionally under-represented applicants. Critics argue that credit reports measure financial history not job performance or workplace risk.

The provision was added as an amendment to the city’s Human Rights Law and goes into effect on September 3, 2015.

What Counts as NYC Credit History Under the Ban

Under the law, the term credit history includes:

• Credit scores and credit reports
• Late or missed payments
• Collection accounts
• Bankruptcy filings
• Civil judgments
• Charged-off or settled debt
• Details about active credit accounts

If your employer asks for this information for a non-exempt role, you have legal grounds to decline.

Employer Exceptions Still Allowed

The law does provide limited exceptions, where credit history may still be screened. The role must fall into one of these categories:

✔ Positions where federal or state law requires credit review
✔ Law enforcement roles or criminal justice positions
✔ Jobs requiring public trust-based background checks
✔ State or federal security clearance roles
✔ Positions with authority over $10,000+ in assets or spending control
✔ Non-clerical roles with access to trade secrets or national intelligence

For all other roles, credit history is legally off-limits for workplace decision-making.

This legislation is largely considered pro-employee and workers should keep it in mind when employers ask for their credit histories. If employees believe that they have been illegally discriminated against based on a credit history issue, they can file a complaint with the New York Commission on Human Rights or file suit against the employer, which can lead to the payment of compensatory damages.

One of our attorneys, Philip Gordon has testified before the House and Senate’s Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development in favor of similar laws here in Massachusetts.

If you have any questions about this legislation or if you have faced credit or background checks in your employment, contact us today.

The current legislation exempts certain classes of workers from receiving overtime pay, even if they work more than 40 hours within a single workweek. The exemption currently applies to workers who are paid a salary of at least $455 per week. In addition, the employee must perform certain types of work, also known as the “duties” test.  While the exact exemption that applies to individual jobs vary, the types of factors to look for include:

• Management of the business;
• Control over individuals;
• Substantial decision making authority;
• Work that requires specialized academic instruction or training;
• Work that is done in the field of computer technology;
• Work that includes sales made away from the employer’s place of business; and/or
• Work in a recognized artistic or creative field.

Though the proposed changes are yet to be reviewed, proponents argue that is the responsibility of Congress to determine if changes are appropriate and make them, and not the executive branch. If the OMB approves the submission, the DOL will release the proposed changes for public review and comment.

If you have any questions about overtime exemptions, contact us today for a free case evaluation.

The Law’s Details

Employers of one domestic worker are subject to the following provisions:

• Employees must work with the employer for at least one year;
• Employees must work at least 80 hours per calendar year; and
• Employees are entitled to receive two paid sick days at their regular rate of at minimum wage.

Employers of one to four employees are subject to these provisions:

• Employees must work at least 80 hours per calendar year; and
• Employees are entitled to up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave.

Employers of five or more employees are subject to these provisions:

• Employees must work at least 80 hours per calendar year; and
• Employees are entitled to receive up to 40 hours of paid sick leave at their regular rate of at least minimum wage.

Employers must give written notifications describing the rights of the employee. Employers should include information about the employee’s right to file a complaint with the Department of Consumer Affairs, without fear of retaliation.

If you have any questions about the legislation or any other sick leave questions, contact us today