These laws and rules changes impact minimum wage, hours and overtime exemption requirements; paid family leave insurance rates; minimum paid and unpaid leave requirements; impose a state-wide prohibition on “stay-or-pay” training repayment agreements; and other employer obligations. Employers should review and update their existing workplace policies and practices to ensure compliance with these statutory and regulatory mandates and changes.
Here is a summary of recently enacted laws or rule changes that change or impose new compliance obligations on New York employers in 2026.
Wage and hour updates
MINIMUM WAGE
Increases to $17.00/hour (NYC, Long Island, Westchester) and $16.00/hour (remainder of New York State) effective on January 1, 2026, with future inflation-based adjustments starting in 2027. Beginning January 1, 2027, subsequent minimum wage increases will be tied to the three-year average of a regional consumer price index.
EXEMPT SALARY THRESHOLD
The New York minimum salary level to qualify for the executive and administrative overtime exemptions is rising. Effective January 1, 2026, the following salary thresholds for the executive and administrative exemptions will take effect: (1) for New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, the minimum salary will be $1,275.00/week (annualized to $66,300.00/year); and (2) for the remainder of New York State, the minimum salary will be $1,199.10/week (annualized to $62,353.20/year). Note that New York does not have a higher minimum salary threshold to qualify for the professional exemption. Accordingly, the federal minimum applies, currently set at $684.00 per week (annualized to $35,568.00 per year). Keep in mind that, in addition to meeting the applicable minimum salary threshold, an employee’s “primary duty” must qualify as exempt work.
TIP CREDITS
Effective January 1, 2026, the allowable “tip credit” for foodservice workers and service employees and the minimum cash wage is scheduled to increase. Changes to the meal credit and uniform allowance also will go into effect.
NEW YORK HEALTHY TERMINALS ACT
Earlier this year, as part of the FY 2026 budget, New York amended its Healthy Terminals Act (HTA). Effective January 1, 2026, the minimum wage, benefit, and paid leave obligations for covered airport workers at JFK and LaGuardia Airports will be tied to the federal Service Contract Act (SCA) framework. Covered airport workers must be paid no less than the wage and benefit rates designated by the NYS Commissioner of Labor, based on determinations of the federal Department of Labor. Similarly, employers must provide minimum paid leave benefits as designated by the NYS Commissioner of Labor. Employers with ten or fewer employees are exempt from these requirements.
Leave & benefits
NEW YORK SECURE CHOICE RETIREMENT PROGRAM
Beginning in March 2026, New York will require most private-sector employers to register for the New York Secure Choice Program or certify their exemption, with deadlines staggered by company size (e.g., employers with 30+ employees by March 18, 2026). The New York Secure Choice Program, which was established in 2021 by New York General Business Law Article 43, is a state-run retirement program that requires and facilitates the creation of Roth IRAs for private-sector employees who do not have access to a qualified retirement plan through their employers. Employers that currently offer a qualified retirement plan need not enroll in the Program but must instead certify their exemption from the Program by reporting information about their retirement plans to the Secure Choice Savings Program Board. The Program’s website indicates that the Program will notify employers of the registration requirement and receive a unique access code for each business to use in registration, but there is also an option on the website to request the unique access code.
NEW YORK PAID FAMILY LEAVE (PFL)
New York State Paid Family Leave is an insurance benefit that may be funded by employees through payroll deductions. For 2026, the employee contribution will increase to 0.432% of their gross wages per pay period, with a maximum annual contribution of $411.91. Employees earning less than the current New York State Average Weekly Wage of $1,833.63 ($95,348.76 annualized) will contribute less than the annual cap of $411.91, consistent with their actual wages.
NEW YORK CITY EARNED SAFE AND SICK TIME ACT (NYC ESSTA)
Unpaid leave
Effective February 22, 2026, the New York City ESSTA has been expanded to require that 32 hours of unpaid sick/safe leave are frontloaded and available upon hire, with paid leave accrual and use continuing under the existing framework tied to employer size and net income. The employer must provide available paid leave first, before unpaid leave, unless the employee requests otherwise.
Additional safe/sick time reasons for leave
Also effective February 22, 2026, employers will be required to provide safe and sick time for additional reasons, including:
- To take specified actions when the employee or employee’s family member has been a victim of workplace violence.
- To provide care for an employee’s minor child or “care recipient.” Under the law, a “care recipient” is a person with a disability, including a temporary disability, who (i) is the employee’s family member or resides in the employee’s household and (ii) relies on the employee for medical care or to meet the needs of daily living.
- By order of a public official due to a “public disaster” [1] that results in:
- Closure of the employee’s workplace.
- The employee’s need to care for a child whose school or childcare provider is closed or has restricted in-person operations.
- A directive from public officials to remain indoors or avoid travel.
- To pursue subsistence benefits or housing for the employee, employee’s family member or “care recipient.”
Employers should update policies to define eligibility and covered reasons; reflect the prenatal leave entitlement and interaction with other paid time off; detail accrual, frontloading (if elected), carryover, and usage caps; and integrate the changes in documentation standards.
TEMPORARY SCHEDULE CHANGE ACT (NYC TSCA) CONSOLIDATED INTO ESSTA
Effective February 22, 2026, New York City’s TSCA has been consolidated into ESSTA, eliminating separate TSCA obligations and placing temporary schedule change requests under the ESSTA framework. The TSCA required employers to approve up to two temporary schedule changes annually for certain personal reasons, which will now be covered under the expanded leave provisions of the ESSTA. While employees may still request temporary schedule changes, employers are no longer obligated to approve them but can approve, deny, or propose an alternative to such a request. An employer must respond to an employee’s request as soon as practicable. New York City employers should retire standalone TSCA policies that are no longer needed and incorporate changes to their ESSTA policies and documentation and response procedures.
PRENATAL LEAVE UNDER NYC ESSTA
The NYC ESSTA amendments also codified rules recently promulgated by the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (NYC DCWP) regarding prenatal leave requirements. Under the rule, in effect since earlier this year, New York City employers must not only provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave (similar to the New York State prenatal leave requirements that went into effect on January 1, 2025) but also meet additional requirements beyond the state law requirements, including policy, notice, and posting requirements.
Other restrictions and obligations
PROHIBITION ON “STAY-OR-PAY” TRAINING REPAYMENT AGREEMENTS
On December 19, 2025, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Trapped at Work Act, establishing a statewide prohibition on employer use of promissory notes that require employees to repay amounts if they leave employment before a specified period. Employers cannot characterize repayment as reimbursement for employer-provided training. The act became effective immediately upon signing.
The law specifies that no employer may require, as a condition of employment, any worker to execute “an employment promissory note” as a condition of employment. The law contains specific exceptions, including “any agreement between a worker and an employer that: (a) requires the worker to repay to the employer any sums advanced to such worker by the employer, unless such sums were used to pay for training related to the worker's employment with the employer; (b) requires the worker to pay the employer for any property it has sold or leased to such worker; (c) requires educational personnel to comply with any terms or conditions of sabbatical leaves granted by their employers; or (d) is entered into as part of a program agreed to by the employer and its workers' collective bargaining representative.”
At this point, it is not clear whether the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) will enforce the law retroactively. However, the act authorizes the NYSDOL to issue “rules and regulations” to implement the Act, so further details on the NYSDOL’s interpretation may be forthcoming.
NYC PAY AND DEMOGRAPHIC REPORTING
On December 4, 2025, the New York City Council overrode Mayor Adams’ veto of Introduction 982-A, a pay transparency law that requires private employers with 200 or more employees to report pay data and demographic information annually. This law was passed in the wake of similar pay data reporting laws in California and Illinois and seeks to reduce gender and race pay inequities.
This law will be implemented in several steps. Within the next year, the mayor must designate an agency to collect reported information. This agency then has one year to develop a standardized form for employers. Once developed, employers will have one year to submit the required information.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION IN HOSPITALS AND NURSING HOMES
On December 12, 2025, New York Governor Hochul signed legislation requiring healthcare facilities, defined as general hospitals and nursing homes, to establish mandatory workplace violence prevention programs. The programs must meet certain requirements and must be in place by September 2027.
For assistance in complying with these new laws, please contact your Nixon Peabody attorney or the authors of this alert.
- A “public disaster” includes fires, explosions, terrorist attacks, severe weather, or other emergencies declared by the US President, New York Governor, or New York City Mayor.
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