Updates to New York Employment Laws in 2025


With the new year upon us, employees across New York State should be aware of several changes and updates to labor and employment laws that may affect them. Below, we highlight some of the noteworthy changes to city and State law that have already taken place or are yet to come in 2025.

  • Increases to Minimum Wages and Thresholds for Exempt SalariesEffective January 1, 2025, hourly workers in New York City, Westchester County, and Long Island must be paid at least $16.50 per hour and an overtime rate of $24.75 for any hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Hourly workers in the remainder of New York State must be paid $15.50 per hour and $23.25 for any overtime hours worked.  Hourly workers can expect these rates to increase again on January 1, 2026. However, home healthcare workers and service workers who receive tips are subject to separate hourly minimum wage rates.

    Additionally, as of January 1, 2025, the weekly minimum salary threshold to be overtime exempt increased from $1,200.00 to $1,237.50 per week in New York City, Westchester County, and Long Island. For employees in the remainder of New York State, the weekly salary threshold increased from $1,124.20 to $1,161.65 per week. These salary thresholds are also set to increase on January 1, 2026.
     
  • Paid Prenatal Leave – On January 1, 2025, New York became the first State to require employers provide pregnant workers with up to 20 hours of paid leave each year to attend medical appointments or procedures that relate to their pregnancy. This new law, which allows pregnant employees to use the 20 hours incrementally, applies to all private-sector employees and does not have to be accrued, meaning all 20 hours of leave are available immediately. This 20-hour bank of paid leave must be given in addition to the paid family leave pregnant employees are already entitled to under New York law and must be made available to those workers in its entirety upon their hiring. Note that employers do not need to pay out the 20 hours to pregnant employees upon their termination or resignation, if unused.
     
  • COVID-19 Sick Leave – Effective July 31, 2025, employees will no longer be entitled to COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave under the COVID-19 Emergency Leave Law, enacted in March 2020. Under the COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave, employees under mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19 are eligible to receive a certain amount of paid or unpaid leave, depending on their employer’s size. That said, after July 31, 2025, employees may still use other qualifying paid leave for COVID-19-related reasons.
     
  • New York Retail Worker Safety Act – Effective March 3, 2025, retail stores with at least ten employees must: (i) develop and implement a written policy to help prevent violence against retail workers at the workplace; (ii) provide employees with annual training on workplace violence prevention; and (iii) distribute notices detailing those policies and information regarding the training. The new law seeks to curtail workplace violence in the retail industry, which unfortunately, exposes retail workers to higher risks of violence due to conditions specific to the retail industry. 

    While New York State’s Department of Labor (“DOL”) will issue a model written policy for retail employers to review and adopt, those employers may implement their own policies that meet or exceed the minimum standards provided by the DOL.

    Additionally, effective January 1, 2027, retail employers with 500 or more employees nationwide must install “panic buttons” throughout their New York locations that immediately contact law enforcement.

Individuals who believe that they have not been paid correctly or have been incorrectly classified as exempt from overtime under federal and/or State law should seek legal counsel to analyze their potential claims.

About Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP focuses on complex civil litigation, including securities, antitrust, wage and hour and consumer class actions as well as shareholder derivative and merger and transactional litigation. The firm is headquartered in New York, and maintains offices in California, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Since its founding in 1995, Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP has served as lead or co-lead counsel in numerous high-profile cases which ultimately provided significant recoveries to investors, direct purchasers, consumers and employees.

To schedule a free consultation with our attorneys and to learn more about your legal rights, call our offices today at (877) 247-4292 or (212) 983-9330.

About Camilo Burr

Camilo Burr's practice is focused on employment litigation. Camilo is an associate in the firm's New York office.

Tags: labor law, employment law, minimum wage, New York, PFL, COVID-19, DOL, Retail Worker Safety Act Camilo Burr Camilo Burr
Associate at Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP

New York office
Tel: (212) 983-9330
Fax: (212) 983-9331
E-mail: cburr@faruqilaw.com
Social: LinkedIn

Finding us

Our Offices


Our offices are nationwide. If you have any questions about a case or our firm, please contact us.

New York

685 Third Avenue 26th Floor
New York, New York 10017
(212) 983-9330
(877) 247-4292
(212) 983-9331

California

1901 Avenue of the Stars Suite 1060
Los Angeles, California 90067
(424) 256-2884
(424) 256-2885

Georgia

3565 Piedmont Road NE Building Four, Suite 380
Atlanta, Georgia 30305
(404) 847-0617
(404) 506-9534

Pennsylvania

1617 JFK Boulevard, Suite 1550
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103
(215) 277-5770
(215) 277-5771

Faruqi & Faruqi office in New York, New York

Faruqi & Faruqi office in Los Angeles, California

Faruqi & Faruqi office in Atlanta, Georgia

Faruqi & Faruqi office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania