Overtime in New York rests on a federal baseline that the state’s wage orders extend in several respects. This article is part of the StatuteWorks reference on New York employment law, and it covers who is entitled to overtime, how the state’s salary threshold for exempt employees works, how overtime pay is calculated, and how unpaid overtime is recovered. Overtime sits alongside other statewide standards, including New York’s sick leave law.
Who qualifies for overtime in New York
Overtime pay is the extra half-rate an employer owes once an employee works more than 40 hours in a single workweek. Federal law and New York’s wage orders set the same weekly trigger. Under 29 U.S.C. § 207, a covered employee who works longer than 40 hours in a workweek must receive at least one and one-half times the regular rate for the excess hours, and New York applies the same rule through its state wage orders.
Employees fall into two groups. Non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime. Exempt employees are not, because a specific exemption in the law removes them from the overtime requirement. Most hourly workers are non-exempt. The dividing line is not the job title, and it is not the fact of being paid a salary. It depends on the exemption categories described in the next section.
New York does not require overtime for working more than eight hours in a single day. The 40-hour weekly threshold in 29 U.S.C. § 207 controls, so an employee who works four ten-hour days in a week has not earned overtime under the general rule, while an employee who works 45 hours across six days has earned five hours of overtime.
Exempt employees and New York’s salary threshold
The most common overtime exemptions are the “white-collar” exemptions for employees working in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, along with outside sales employees. These come from 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1), and New York recognizes parallel exemptions in its wage orders. Qualifying for one of these exemptions takes two things: the employee’s actual job duties must fit the exemption, and the employee must be paid on a salary basis at or above a minimum weekly amount.
New York is where the salary side of that test departs from federal law. The state sets a minimum weekly salary for exempt executive and administrative employees that rises each time the state minimum wage rises. As of January 1, 2026, the state minimum salary for these employees under 12 NYCRR § 142-2.14 is $1,199.10 per week (about $62,353 per year) in most of New York State, and $1,275.00 per week (about $66,300 per year) for employees who work in New York City or in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties. An executive or administrative employee paid below the threshold that applies to their work location is non-exempt and is owed overtime, whatever their duties are.
The professional exemption works differently. New York does not set its own salary floor for exempt professional employees, so the federal amount applies. The federal salary threshold under 29 CFR § 541.600 is $684 per week (equal to $35,568 per year) for executive, administrative, and professional employees. Because New York’s executive and administrative thresholds are higher, the state figures are the ones that control for those two categories when an employer is subject to state overtime rules.
How overtime pay is calculated
Overtime is calculated on the “regular rate,” not always the base hourly wage. The regular rate is the total pay for the week divided by the hours worked. For an employee paid a single hourly wage with no other pay, the regular rate is that wage. When an employee also earns non-discretionary bonuses or commissions, those amounts fold into the regular rate, which raises the value of each overtime hour. The overtime premium itself comes from 29 U.S.C. § 207.
Add up straight-time pay for the week
Total the employee’s pay for all hours worked at straight-time rates, including hourly wages and any non-discretionary bonuses or commissions earned that week. Discretionary gifts and certain premium payments are treated separately under the wage-and-hour rules.
Divide by hours worked to find the regular rate
Divide the straight-time total by the number of hours worked in the week. The result is the regular rate. It can never be lower than the applicable minimum wage for the work location.
Pay 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40
For each hour worked beyond 40 in the workweek, the employer owes 1.5 times the regular rate. An employee paid $20 an hour who works 45 hours is owed 40 hours at $20 plus 5 hours at $30, for $950 that week.
The regular rate has a floor. It cannot drop below the New York minimum wage that applies where the employee works. As of January 1, 2026, that minimum wage under N.Y. Lab. Law § 652 is $17.00 per hour in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, and $16.00 per hour in the rest of the state. An employee paid the minimum wage earns overtime at 1.5 times that rate for hours over 40.
Special overtime situations
A few categories of workers follow rules that differ from the standard calculation.
Tipped employees earn overtime on their full regular rate before any tip credit is subtracted, not on the reduced cash wage. An employer that takes a tip credit still owes the overtime premium measured against the full applicable rate.
Employees who work at more than one pay rate, or in more than one of New York’s minimum wage regions during a week, are owed overtime on a blended regular rate. An employer may instead pay the highest applicable rate for all hours, but overtime is still figured at 1.5 times the regular rate the employee actually earned under 29 U.S.C. § 207.
Live-in or “residential” employees and farm laborers each have a separate weekly overtime threshold set under the applicable New York State wage order rather than the standard 40-hour rule. A narrow exception also lets some employers who are exempt from federal overtime but covered by the state wage order for miscellaneous industries pay overtime at 1.5 times the minimum wage rate instead of the regular rate.
Unpaid overtime and how the law is enforced
An employee who was not paid required overtime can recover it, either by filing a claim with the New York State Department of Labor or by bringing a civil action. The remedies are set by N.Y. Lab. Law § 663. An employee who prevails recovers the unpaid wages, plus costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, plus prejudgment interest. Unless the employer proves a good-faith basis for believing the pay was lawful, the employee also recovers liquidated damages equal to 100 percent of the underpayment, which doubles the amount owed.
The same section sets a six-year window under N.Y. Lab. Law § 663: an action to recover on a liability imposed by the state Minimum Wage Act must be started within six years, a period longer than the two or three years that federal law allows for most overtime claims. The statute also provides that if a judgment goes unpaid for 90 days after it becomes final, the total automatically increases by 15 percent.
New York bars an employer from firing or penalizing a worker for complaining about unpaid wages, even though New York is an at-will employment state. A worker whose job ends can separately file for unemployment benefits in New York, because unemployment eligibility turns on the reason for the separation rather than on a pending wage claim.
Frequently asked questions
Does being paid a salary mean an employee is exempt from overtime in New York?
No. A salary is only one part of the test. To be exempt as an executive or administrative employee, a worker must be paid on a salary basis at or above New York’s threshold for their work location ($1,199.10 or $1,275.00 per week as of January 1, 2026 under 12 NYCRR § 142-2.14) and must perform duties that fit the exemption. A salaried employee who fails either part is non-exempt and is owed overtime for hours over 40.
Does New York require overtime for working more than eight hours in one day?
No. New York’s general overtime rule is based on the 40-hour workweek, not the length of a single day, under 29 U.S.C. § 207. An employee who works long days but 40 or fewer hours in the week has not earned overtime under the standard rule, though separate rules such as spread-of-hours pay can apply in some industries.
Do New York’s overtime rules apply to remote employees?
Coverage generally follows where the work is performed. Work performed in New York is subject to New York’s minimum wage and overtime rules and to the minimum wage region that matches the work location, regardless of where the employer’s main office sits. An employee working in another state is generally covered by that state’s rules instead.
Are managers automatically exempt from overtime?
No. The executive exemption depends on actual duties, such as managing a department, regularly directing the work of at least two other employees, and having authority over hiring decisions, in addition to meeting the salary threshold. A worker with a manager title who does mostly non-managerial work, or who is paid below the threshold, can still be entitled to overtime.
How long does a worker have to claim unpaid overtime in New York?
Six years. Under N.Y. Lab. Law § 663, an action to recover unpaid wages under the state Minimum Wage Act must be commenced within six years, and that period can be tolled while the Department of Labor investigates a filed complaint. The federal deadline for most overtime claims is shorter, typically two years, or three years for willful violations.
Sources
- 29 U.S.C. § 207 (Fair Labor Standards Act, maximum hours and overtime)
- 29 U.S.C. § 213 (FLSA exemptions, including the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions)
- 29 CFR § 541.600 (federal salary threshold for the white-collar exemptions), via Cornell LII
- 12 NYCRR § 142-2.14 (New York exempt salary threshold for executive and administrative employees), via Justia
- N.Y. Lab. Law § 652 (New York minimum wage rates)
- N.Y. Lab. Law § 663 (civil action, liquidated damages, and six-year limitation)