New York State SALARY EXEMPT Pay Just Went Up to $832/Week!

The United States Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Minimum Wage Act require that most workers must be paid the minimum wage ($11.10 for most workers in Upstate New York as of 12/31/2018), and that an employee who works more than 40 hours in a work week must receive overtime pay of 1.5 times their hourly wage for all time over the 40 hour threshold.

Specific jobs may be exempt from the Overtime Rule. These jobs are often called “FLSA exempt” or “salaried-exempt” jobs. To be a legitimate FLSA exempt job, the job duties of the position must meet certain minimum requirements including executive, or administrative duties. [See rates for salary exempt pay across the State by clicking one of the above two links.] In addition to meeting the “duties test,” for employees in these jobs to be exempt from overtime they must also be paid a minimum salary per week. (An FLSA exempt employee is paid the same weekly salary if they work any amount of time in a week.)

Along with increases to the minimum wage in New York State on 12/31/2018, the minimum salary for FLSA exempt employees also increased. The minimum salary in Upstate New York is now $832 per week.

An employer that does not currently meet minimum salary requirements for one or more employees must either raise their weekly salary, or convert the job to a non-FLSA exempt classification like “salaried non-exempt” (paid a salary, but paid overtime for any hours over 40 per week) or hourly pay.

If you have questions about salary exempt pay or if you or someone you know isn’t being paid correctly feel free to reach out through the Tompkins County Workers’ Center’s Hotline at 607-269-0409 or email TCWRH@tcworkerscenter.org