Hours worked
New York minimum wage laws require employers to pay employees for all hours worked which is defined as any time employees are permitted to work or required to be available to work at a place prescribed by the employer. NY Admin. Rules 142-2.1(b)
Workweek
New York minimum wage laws define a workweek as seven (7) consecutive 24-hour periods or a regular repeating span of 168 hours. A workweek may begin at any hour of the day and on any day of the week and does not have to coincide with a calendar week. Employers may establish separate workweeks for different employees or different employee groups.
Once the beginning workweek has been created for an employee, the workweek must generally remain fixed regardless of hours scheduled to work by the employee. Employers may change the start time and day of a workweek if the change is meant to be permanent and not created to avoid overtime pay requirements. NY Admin. Rules 146-3.11
Waiting time
New York minimum wage laws require employers to count employee waiting time as hours worked for purposes of its minimum wage and overtime requirements if the employees are required to remain available to work at or near the employer’s premises and are unable to use the time productively for their own purposes. NY Admin. Rules 142-2.1(b); NY Admin. Rules 146-3.6
On-call time
New York minimum wage laws require employers to count employee on-call time as hours worked for purposes of its minimum wage and overtime requirements if the employees are required to remain available to work at or near the employer’s premises and are unable to use the time productively for their own purposes. NY Admin. Rules 142-2.1(b); NY Admin. Rules 146-3.6
An employer does not need to count as hours worked the following time employees who live on the employer’s premises is actually on the employer’s premises:
- normal sleeping hours, even if they are required to be on-call during that time, and
- any other time the employee is free to leave the employer’s premises but chooses not to.
Sleeping time
New York minimum wage laws do not require employers to count employee normal sleeping time as hours worked for purposes of its minimum wage and overtime requirements if the employees live on the employer’s premises, even if the employee is on-call during the sleeping period. NY Admin. Rules 142-2.1(b); NY Admin. Rules 146-3.6
New York minimum wage laws do not address any other instances where an employer may be required to count employee sleep time as hours worked. The standards set forth by the Fair Labor Standards Act regarding sleeping time may provide reasonable guidance.
Travel time
New York minimum wage laws require employers to count employee travel time as hours worked for purposes of it minimum wage and overtime requirements if the travel is part of the employee’s duties. NY Admin. Rules 142-2.1(b); NY Admin. Rules 146-3.6
Meeting, lecture, and training time
New York minimum wage laws do not address when employees must count time spent by employees at meetings, lectures, and training as hours worked for purposes of its minimum wage and overtime requirements. The standards set forth by the Fair Labor Standards Act regarding meeting time may provide reasonable guidance.
Show up or reporting time
Non-hospitality industry employees
New York minimum wage laws require non-hospitality industry employers to pay employees call-in pay, also referred to as show up or reporting pay. If an employer requests or permits an employee to report for work on any given day, the employer must pay the employee for a minimum of four (4) hours of work or for the employee’s entire shift, whichever is less, at no less than the standard minimum wage. The employer must pay call-in pay regardless of whether the employee performs any work. NY Admin. Rules 142-2.3
Hospitality industry employees
New York minimum wage laws require non-hospitality industry employers to pay employees call-in pay, also referred to as show up or reporting pay. If an employer requests or permits an employee to report for work on any given day, the employer must pay the employees the applicable wage rate as follows:
- for at least three (3) hours for one shift, or the number of hours scheduled in a regular shift, whichever is less;
- for at least six (6) hours for two shifts that total 6 hours of less, or the number of hours scheduled in a regular shift, whichever is less; and
- for at least eight (8) hours for three shifts totaling 8 hours or less, or the number of hours scheduled in a regular shift, whichever is less.
The applicable wage rate is defined to mean:
- payment for the time the employees actually worked calculated at the employees’ regular or overtime rates, whichever rate applies, less any customary and regular tip credits;
- payment for the remainder of the period in which no work was actually performed calculated at the standard minimum wage with no tip credit subtracted (payment for the period in which no actual work was performed is not payment for time worked or work performed and need not be counted as hours worked for calculating the regular rate for the purpose of overtime pay).
A regularly scheduled shift means a fixed, repeating shift an employee typically works on the same day, each week. A regularly scheduled shift does not exist if the total working hours or days worked changes weekly. NY Admin. Rules 146-1.5(d)
Split shift pay
Non-hospitality industry employees
New York minimum wage laws require non-hospitality industry employers to pay employees an extra one hour’s of pay at the standard minimum wage in addition to the pay they receive for hours they work if:
- the employees work more than a spread of 10 hours in a workday;
- the employees work a split shift; or
- both the above scenarios occur.
A split shift is a daily schedule in which working hours are not consecutive. Meal periods of one hour or less do not cause a daily schedule to be a split shift. NY Admin. Rules 142-2.16
The 10-hour spread of hours includes any break, meal, or other off-duty periods. NY Admin. Rules 142-2.18
Hospitality industry employees
New York minimum wage laws require restaurant and all-year hotel employers to pay employees an extra one hour’s of pay at the standard minimum wage in addition to the pay they receive for hours they work if they work more than 10 hours in a workday. The 10-hour spread of hours includes any break, meal, or other off-duty periods. The extra hour of pay does not need to be counted as hours worked in calculating an employee’s regular rate for overtime calculation purposes. NY Admin. Rules 146-1.6
