Paid Family Leave, COVID Vaccination Leave, Minimum Wages and Salaries
The following changes to New York employment law cover employers of all sizes:
Paid Family Leave expanded to cover siblings: Beginning January 1, 2023, eligible employees will be entitled to use Paid Family Leave (PFL) to care for a sibling (whether biological, adopted, step, or half) with a serious health condition in addition to the family members who are currently covered. Additional details are available on the platform.
If your PFL policy defines family member, update it to include siblings.
COVID Vaccination Leave extended: Employees will still be entitled to take COVID vaccination leave in 2023. This leave entitlement was originally set to expire on December 31, 2022, but was extended for an additional year. Employees can take up to four hours of paid leave per COVID vaccine injection, including boosters. This leave is in addition to all other leave the employee is entitled to. Details are available on the platform.
If your COVID vaccination leave policy has an expiration date, update it.
Minimum Wages & Salaries: Changes to minimum wage and salary thresholds apply as of December 31, 2022. Note that home care aides must be paid $2 per hour more than the applicable minimum wage. The rates in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County remain unchanged.
The minimum wage in upstate New York (all areas outside of New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County) will increase to $14.20 per hour. The minimum base wage for tipped hospitality workers will be $11.85 per hour for service employees and $9.45 per hour for food service workers.
The minimum salary threshold for exempt executive and administrative employees will increase to $1,064.25 per week ($55,341 annually).