Employment Updates – What New York State Employers Need to Know in 2025
Insights
Christopher J. Kelly ·
Maureen Bradley · January 22, 2025
Are you in compliance with the 2025 employment law updates? Below are important updates for New York State Employers.
Paid Prenatal Personal Leave:
New York becomes the first state to mandate this leave, requiring private sector employers to provide up to twenty (20) hours of “paid prenatal personal leave” in a 52-week calendar period, beginning on January 1, 2025. The leave is not subject to accrual and employees are entitled to all 20 hours beginning on the first day they utilize leave. There is also no minimum amount of hours needed to be worked to qualify for the leave. The leave is for the purpose of healthcare services received related to the pregnancy such as: “physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy.” The twenty (20) hours of paid prenatal personal leave is separate and apart from the existing NYS Paid Sick and Safe Leave Law and the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act. The leave can be taken in hourly increments and is paid in hourly increments, which is different from employers being able to set the existing New York Sick and Safe Leave at a minimum of four-hour increments.
Minimum Salaries for Executive and Administrative Employees:
Effective January 1, 2025, the minimum salaries for executive and administrative employees exempt from New York’s minimum wage and overtime requirements increase, as follows:
- Employers in New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County and Westchester County – the minimum salary rises from $1,200.00 ($62,400.00 per year) to $1,237.50 ($64,350.00 per year). On January 1, 2026, the rate will increase to $1,275.00 ($66,300.00 per year).
- Employers in the remainder of New York – the minimum salary rises from $1,124.20 ($58,458.40 per year) to $1,161.65 ($60,405.80 per year). On January 1, 2026 the rate will increase to $1,199.10 ($62,353.20 per year).
Minimum Wage Rate Increases:
Effective January 1, 2025 the hourly minimum wage rates will increase, as follows:
- Employers in New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County and Westchester County – the hourly minimum wage rate rises from $16.00 to $16.50. On January 1, 2026 the rate will rise to $17.00.
- Employers in the remainder of New York – the hourly minimum wage rate rises from $15.00 to $15.50. On January 1, 2026 the rate will rise to $16.00.
In 2023, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation approving a three-year period of annual increases to the state’s minimum wage rates, followed by a market-based approach to adjust minimum wage rates going forward. The legislation mandates that the minimum wage rate for 2027 and beyond will be tied to the three-year average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the northeast region. The New York Department of Labor (NYDOL) is tasked with monitoring the statewide economy and adjusting the minimum wage accordingly, and, economic conditions could prevent a rate increase for a particular year. If the NYDOL determines a rate increase is appropriate, the NYDOL must post the adjusted rate no later than October 1 of the year prior, to give employers sufficient time to prepare for the increase.
New York Paid Family Leave Contribution Rate:
The New York State Department of Financial Services recently announced the changes to the employee contribution rate and benefit amounts under the New York Paid Family Leave Law (NY PFL), effective January 1, 2025.
The employee contribution rate (a % of an employee’s gross wages per pay period) will increase slightly, from 0.373% in 2024 to 0.388% in 2025. The maximum annual contribution will also rise from $333.25 to $354.53.
Eligible employees may receive up to 12 weeks of paid benefits in any 52-week period at 67% of their average weekly wage, capped at a maximum weekly benefit of $1,177.32 for 2025 (an increase of $26.16 from 2024). The maximum benefit is calculated based on 67% of the $1,757.19 New York State Average Weekly Wage.
NY Paid Covid-19 Sick Leave
Effective July 31, 2025, New York State Paid COVID-19 sick leave will sunset. However, employees may continue to use other qualifying paid leave, such as New York Paid Sick Leave, for COVID-19-related reasons.
Retail Worker Safety
On September 5, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Retail Worker Safety Act into law. The Act will require covered employers to:
- Adopt a retail workplace violence prevention policy (effective date of on or about March 3, 2025);
- Develop and implement training programs to prevent workplace violence (effective date of on or about March 3, 2025); and
- Install panic buttons at the workplace (effective date of on or about Jan. 1, 2027).
“Retail store means a store that sells consumer commodities at retail and which is not primarily engaged in the sale of food for consumption on the premises.”
For the policy and training requirement, covered employers include “any person, entity, business, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or association employing at least ten retail employees.” The Act also requires the NYS DOL to produce a model workplace violence prevention training program.
Covered employers for the panic button requirements are entities that employ at least 500 retail employees nationwide. “Panic button” means a physical button that when pressed immediately contacts the local 9-1-1 public safety answering point (“PSAP”), provides that PSAP with employee location information, and dispatches local law enforcement to the workplace. A panic button may be a button that is installed in an easily accessible location in the workplace, or a wearable or mobile phone-based button.
Beginning March 3, 2025, covered retail employers must provide workplace violence prevention training to all retail employees upon hire and on an annual basis thereafter. Under a proposed chapter amendment which is expected to be implemented before the training requirement takes effect, employers with fewer than fifty retail employees would only have to provide workplace violence prevention training upon hire and once every two years thereafter. Employers with fifty or more employees would still need to provide annual training.
The model retail workplace violence prevention policy and related information will be publicly available and posted on the NYDOL’s website, and it is unclear at this point when the state’s model policy will be released.
Contact Rimon Law if you need any assistance with compliance in the above laws.
If you need assistance with compliance in the above laws, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Rimon Partner, Christopher Kelly or Human Capital Business Advisor, Maureen Bradley.
This summary is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice nor does it create an attorney-client relationship with Rimon, P.C. or its affiliates.