Effective Dec. 31, 2022, the minimum wage in upstate New York (i.e., every part of the state except New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties) will increase from $13.20 to $14.20 per hour. The New York State Department of Labor recently announced this one-dollar rise — a more than 7.5 percent increase. The minimum wage […]
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Effective Dec. 31, 2022, the minimum wage in upstate New York (i.e., every part of the state except New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties) will increase from $13.20 to $14.20 per hour. The New York State Department of Labor recently announced this one-dollar rise — a more than 7.5 percent increase.
The minimum wage for employees working in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties remains unchanged at $15 per hour. The minimum wage for fast-food employees across the state also remains unchanged at $15 an hour.
The minimum wage for upstate New York will continue to increase on an annual basis until the statewide minimum-wage rate reaches $15 per hour regardless of locale. A chart summarizing the minimum wage rates throughout the state is available at: https://dol.ny.gov/minimum-wage-0.
Employers should keep two important things in mind as they prepare to comply with this forthcoming minimum-wage increase. First, the minimum-wage rise goes into effect on Dec. 31, 2022. Therefore, non-exempt employees who work on New Year’s Eve should be paid the increased minimum wage for any hours worked. Second, the applicable minimum-wage rate is determined based on where the work is performed — not where the employer is located. Thus, an employee working in New York City must be paid at the minimum-wage rate applicable to Downstate, even if his/her employer is headquartered in Upstate, where the minimum wage has not yet reached $15.
An increase to the salary threshold for employees who are classified as exempt under New York’s executive and administrative exemptions has not been finalized for 2023. However, proposed regulatory text issued by the Department of Labor suggests the minimum weekly salary threshold for the executive and administrative exemptions will increase from $990 to $1064.25 per week (inclusive of board, lodging, and other allowances and facilities) in upstate New York effective Dec. 31, 2022.
Historically, the exempt salary threshold has been 75 times the minimum wage rate; this proposed increase, which will likely be implemented, roughly follows that pattern. There is no proposed increase to the salary threshold for exempt executive and administrative employees working in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, so that threshold will remain at $1,125 per week. There is still no state salary threshold to qualify for the professional exemption, so the federal threshold of $684 per week remains applicable for the professional exemption. Employees must continue to meet specified duties requirements to qualify for an exemption.
Hannah K. Redmond is an associate attorney in the Syracuse office of Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC. She focuses her practice on representing employers in labor and employment-law matters. Contact Redmond at hredmond@bsk.com. Subhash Viswanathan is a member (partner) in Bond’s Syracuse office. Viswanathan represents employers in many different industries on labor and employment issues. Contact him at suba@bsk.com. This viewpoint is drawn from the firm’s New York Labor and Employment Law Report blog.