Under Pressure:
Examining Five New Wage and Hour Mandates
and the Impacts on Employers
By: Joseph M. Dougherty, Esq. and Benjamin M. Wilkinson, Esq. Hinman Straub P.C.
T
he last three years have seen significant
changes to the Federal and state laws
and regulations that determine employee
compensation. The changing landscape of the wage
and hour law has resulted in increased pressure on
employers in the long term care field to find ways to
manage their workforce and remain in compliance
with Federal and State laws. Many employers are
left wondering how they will keep up with the
constantly evolving wage and hour law. This article
is intended to highlight five (5) key areas that are
affecting or will affect your workforce in the near
future.
1
New York State Minimum Wage
In early 2016, New York passed
legislation which phased in significant
increases to the State’s minimum hourly wage. As
of December 31, 2017, New York requires that
all employees receive at least $10.40 per hour.
The minimum wage varies based on location of
work performed. The following chart provides
an overview of the increases to the basic hourly
minimum wage over the next several years:
Basic Minimum Hourly Wage
Effective NYC 11 NYC 10 Nassau,
Rest of
Date
or more or less Suffolk & State
Westchester
12/31/16
$11.00
$10.50
$10.00
$9.70
12/31/17 $13.00 $12.00 $11.00 $10.40
12/31/18 $15.00 $13.50 $12.00 $11.10
12/31/19 $15.00 $15.00 $13.00 $11.80
12/31/20 $15.00 $15.00 $14.00 $12.50
12/31/21 $15.00 $15.00 $15.00 TBD
With December 31, 2017 right around the corner,
employers should be aware of the increased
minimum wage requirements and adjust their
employee’s hourly rates of pay to remain in
compliance with New York law.
2
Overtime Exemptions
As many employers are aware, Federal
and New York State regulations allow
employers to exempt employees from the payment
of overtime under certain circumstances. The
Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) sets forth the
overtime rules on a Federal level while New York
has a parallel set of regulations that closely follow
the overtime provisions and exemptions set forth
in the FLSA with the exception of the qualifying
salary threshold. Recently, there have been proposed
changes to the FLSA and significant changes to the
New York regulations on overtime exemptions that
affect millions of employees.
a. Fair Labor Standards Act Overtime
Exemption
The FLSA excludes certain executive,
administrative and professional employees
from overtime requirements, which are
commonly referred to as the “EAP” or
“White Collar” exemptions. Pursuant to
the FLSA, in order to qualify for an EAP
overtime exemption, employees must: (1) be
salaried; (2) be paid more than the weekly
income threshold (“EAP Threshold”); and (3)
primarily perform executive, administrative, or
professional duties (the “Duties Test”).
On May 18, 2016, the United States
Department of Labor (“USDOL”) implemented
revisions to the FLSA overtime exemption law
(the “Final Rule”). These revisions doubled the
EAP Threshold salary necessary for a worker
to be exempt from overtime regulations. On
December 1, 2016, the Final Rule would have
increased the EAP threshold from $455 per
week, or $23,660 annually, to $913 per week,
or $47,476 annually.
Following the issuance of the Final Rule, the
State of Nevada and twenty (20) other states
filed a lawsuit against the USDOL in the
United States District Court of the Eastern
District of Texas challenging the validity of the
Final Rule.
(continued)
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Adviser a publication of LeadingAge New York | Fall 2017