December 2017

Prepare to Ring In the New Year With Updated Employment Laws

As 2017 comes to a close, New Jersey and New York employers should ensure they are prepared to comply with the following employee-related requirements in the New Year:

• The New Jersey minimum wage will increase on January 1, 2018, from $8.44 per hour to $8.60 per hour.
• The New York minimum wage will increase, effective December 31, 2017, in accordance with the following schedule (and will continue to increase on an annual basis until a statewide minimum wage of $15.00 per hour is reached):

New York City Employers With 11 or More Employees	$13.00 per hour
New York City Employers With 10 or Fewer Employees	$12.00 per hour
Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester County Employers	$11.00 per hour
Remainder of New York State Employers	$10.40 per hour
New York City Fast Food Employers	$13.50 per hour
Remainder of New York Fast Food Employers	$11.75 per hour

The amount of the tip credit and corresponding minimum cash wages for tipped employees, as well as the amount of meal credits, lodging credits and uniform maintenance allowances, will increase as of December 31, 2017, as well.

• Similarly, the New York salary basis threshold for executive and administrative employees to be classified as exempt from state overtime rules will increase, effective December 31, 2017, in accordance with the following schedule (and will continue to increase on an annual basis for the next several years):

New York City Employers With 11 or More Employee	$975.00 per week
New York City Employers With 10 or Fewer Employees	$900.00 per week
Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester County Employers	$825.00 per week
Remainder of New York State Employers	$780.00 per week

Employers must ensure that their executive and administrative employees’ weekly salaries meet the applicable threshold, or reclassify such employees to nonexempt status.

• The New York Paid Family Leave Benefits Law will take effect on January 1, 2018. Employers should update their employee handbooks to include a paid family leave policy for New York employees and familiarize themselves with the requirements under the new law. If they have not already done so, employers should begin making deductions from employee payroll to fund benefits and insurance premiums, as explained in a prior alert available here.
• New York hospitality industry employers must issue a Notice and Acknowledgment of Pay Rate and Payday to all employees upon hire and before a change in pay rate, allowances claimed, or payday. The pay rate and tip credit rate of many hospitality industry employees will change due to the impending increase in the minimum wage. Employers should be sure to issue an updated pay notice to these employees, forms of which are available on the Department of Labor’s website.

To discuss implementing any of the above requirements, please contact your CSG attorney or the authors listed below.

Catherine P. Wells | Chair, Labor & Employment Law Group | cwells@csglaw.com | (973) 530-2051

Ilana Levin | Associate | ilevin@csglaw.com | (973) 530-2106