New York and New York City lawmakers were busy throughout 2025 enacting labor and employment-related legislation. Understanding these critical legal updates is essential for employers seeking to comply with applicable laws and ensure that there are fair labor and employment practices in their workplace. Below is a selection of these important laws, highlighting key elements of each new legislation.

New York State

Senate Bill S4998A: An Act to Increase the Workers’ Jury Duty Fee

Beginning June 8, 2025, employers with 11 or more employees must pay employees serving on a jury a daily rate of $72 for the first three days of jury duty (an increase from the daily rate of $40). The jury duty fee must be paid to all employees who report in person for jury service in the state, town, or village courts in New York. Under the law, employers may request that employees provide a “proof of service” showing the dates of juror service. For employees whose wages are equal to or higher than the daily rate, the employer is responsible for paying at least the jury fee for the first three days of jury duty service. For employees whose wages are less than the daily rate, employers must pay the entirety of the employee’s daily wages, and the state then will pay the difference between the employee’s daily wage and the daily jury duty rate for the first three days of jury service. After the first three days of jury service, the state will pay the jury fee to employees who are not paid at least the jury fee by their employer. Employers are prohibited from discharging or penalizing any employee who is absent from work to serve on a jury.

Senate Bill A5631E: New York State Fashion Workers Act Expands Workplace Protections for Employees

Beginning June 19, 2025, model management companies, model management groups, and their clients must comply with the New York State Fashion Workers Act ("the Act"), which establishes a regulatory framework aimed at protecting fashion industry professionals. The Act, which amends the New York Labor Law, creates new duties and obligations for employers related to workplace safety, wage and hour practices, information disclosure, and contracting with models. Additionally, starting December 21, 2025, model management companies must register with the New York Department of Labor (NYDOL) and comply with the Act’s registration-related requirements. 

The NYDOL, which is charged with enforcement of the Act, may impose civil penalties for up to $3,000 for a first-time violation and up to $5,000 for any subsequent violations. The Act also allows models to bring a private right of action by filing a complaint with the NYDOL Commissioner within six years of the alleged illegal conduct. A model management company or model management group that violates the Act may be liable for actual damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and liquidated damages of no more than 100% of the total amount of actual damages. For willful violations of the law, liquidated damages may total up to 300% of total amount of actual damages.

Senate Bill S808: An Act Aimed at Reducing Warehouse Worker Injuries

Beginning June 1, 2025, employers must comply with the New York Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act. The law, which covers employers that employ more than 100 employees at a single warehouse distribution center, or more than 1,000 employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in New York State, requires employers to develop injury reduction programs aimed at minimizing the risk of work-related musculoskeletal injuries. Covered employers must also conduct recurring worksite evaluations as part of their injury reduction programs. Worksite evaluations may be conducted only by certain qualified personnel, such as an ergonomist, industrial hygienist, or certified safety professional. The evaluator must prepare a written report of the worksite evaluation with employee input, and employees must be notified in writing of the results of the evaluation.

Senate Bill S6635: An Act to Expand Workers’ Compensation Coverage for Work-Related Stress

This law expands New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law to provide coverage for certain work-related mental health injuries associated with extraordinary job-related stress, beginning January 1, 2025. Previously, only first responders suffering from work-related post-traumatic stress disorder were eligible for such benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Law. The new law states that if an employee files a claim for a mental injury based upon extraordinary work-related stress, the employee’s claim may not be denied based on a finding that the employee’s stress was not greater than that which employees may typically experience in the workplace. Therefore, whether an employee may be awarded benefits will depend not on the underlying stress-inducing event at work, but rather its impact on the employee and the degree and type of stress that the employee suffers.

New York State Increases Minimum Wage and Enacts Other Wage Law Changes

Beginning January 1, 2026, several changes to New York State’s wage and hour laws went into effect related to minimum wage, meal credits and uniform allowances, and the executive and administrative salary exemption thresholds. New York State’s minimum wage for employees in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County increased from $16.50 to $17.00 per hour, and for employees elsewhere in the state, increased from $15.50 to $16.00 per hour, impacting tip credits for food service workers and overtime rates. The exempt salary threshold also increased for employees in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County from the current weekly minimum of $1,237.50 ($64,350 annually) to $1,275.50 ($66,300 annually), and for employees elsewhere in the state from $1,161.65 ($60,405.80 annually) to $1,199.10 ($62,353.20 annually). The amendment to the law also includes marginal increases to the meal credit amount that an employer may deduct from a non-exempt employee’s wages for each shift that the employer furnishes a meal to the employee, and for the uniform allowance for employees who are required to maintain their own uniforms.

New York State Finance Law Amended to Require Employers to Certify Existence of Policies Addressing Gender-Based Violence

Beginning November 5, 2025, New York State Finance Law § 139-m requires that any employer submitting a competitive bid on a project to the state of New York or any of its public departments or agencies, where competitive bidding is required by law, must certify that they have a written workplace policy addressing gender-based violence. The new law does not affect existing contracts and provides the certification language that employers must use.

New York State Budget Includes Amendments to New York Labor Law’s Wage and Hour Provisions

In May 2025, New York State’s 2025-2026 fiscal year budget was passed and included important amendments to the Labor Law’s wage and hour provisions. Specifically, the Labor Law has substantially reduced the amount of liquidated damages that workers may recover for an employer’s first violation of the Labor Law’s pay frequency requirements from 100% of lost wages to just lost interest, which is currently 16% per year. For subsequent violations, employers will still owe 100% of lost wages. The new budget also expands the scope of penalties that the NYDOL may impose on employers for violations of certain wage and hour provisions related to child labor, vacation pay, and expense reimbursement, and it permits workers to request that the NYDOL authorize the worker to file a lawsuit to enforce the wage order directly, instead of seeking enforcement through the NYDOL.

New York City

New York City Enacts Amendments to Earned Safe and Sick Time Act

Beginning February 22, 2026, important amendments to the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) will go into effect, including the following new permitted reasons for the use of earned safe and sick time: 1) the closure of the employee’s place of business or the employee’s child’s school or childcare provider due to a public disaster, such as a fire, explosion, terrorist attack, or severe weather conditions that are declared a public emergency, or a directive by a public official to remain indoors or avoid travel during a public disaster, which results in the employee being unable to report to work; 2) the employee’s need to seek legal or social services assistance if the employee or their family member is a victim of workplace violence; 3) the employee’s need to attend a legal proceeding or hearing related to subsistence benefits or housing in which the employee, a family member, or the employee’s care recipient is a party; and 4) the employee’s need to act as a caregiver to a minor child or care recipient (defined as a person with a disability who is a family member or who resides in the caregiver’s household and relies on the caregiver for medical care or to meet the needs of daily living). 

In addition, all employers, regardless of size or net income, must also provide employees with a minimum of 32 hours of unpaid time available for use immediately upon hiring and thereafter on the first day of each following calendar year. The 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time replaces the two absences that employers were previously required to provide under the New York City Temporary Schedule Change Law (TSCL), although employees may still request temporary changes to their work schedules under the TSCL, subject to the employer’s approval. 

New York City Enacts Amended Paid Prenatal Leave Rules

The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) enacted amended rules to the city’s ESSTA, which generally follow the state’s Paid Prenatal Leave Law, with a few key additional requirements. Like the state’s Paid Prenatal Leave Law, the amended rules to ESSTA provide for paid prenatal leave in addition to safe and sick leave. The amended rules also include an updated notice of employee rights which must be posted and provided to each employee, and require that employers maintain a written prenatal leave policy and provide employees with notice of how much paid prenatal leave they have used and have available for use during periods of leave. The amended rules also include additional recordkeeping requirements, procedures for how and when employees must notify their employer of the need for leave and permitted documentation that employers may request from employees in certain circumstances.

Safe Hotels Act Expands Obligations on Employers in the Hotel Industry

Beginning May 3, 2025, the New York City Safe Hotels Act (SHA) requires that hotel owners and operators employ all “core employees” directly if the hotel has 100 or more guest rooms, as a condition of receiving a license to operate as a hotel under the SHA. The SHA defines “core employees” as those workers whose job classification and duties require them to be on-site, such as front desk, concierge, room attendant, and bell and door staff workers, and prohibits hotel owners and operators from contracting with a third party, such as a staffing agency, for such core employees. The law also requires that hotels ensure that certain workers, including front desk and security staff, be on-site whenever a guest is staying at the hotel. Covered hotel operators are also required to train certain workers on how to recognize human trafficking and provide panic buttons for workers whose job duties involve entering guest rooms. Additionally, the law includes a broad anti-retaliation provision which prohibits hotel owners and operators from taking adverse employment action against any employee who discloses, or threatens to disclose, any hotel practice or policy which the employee reasonably, and in good faith, believes to be in violation of the law or poses a danger to the safety of the public.