Mandatory overtime is legal in New York for nearly every worker. No state or federal law caps how many hours an employer can require an adult employee to work in a week, and your employer does not need your consent to schedule those hours. What the law does require is that you be paid correctly for the extra time and that you get at least one full day of rest each week. Nurses are the one group with a statutory right to refuse forced overtime outside of specific emergencies.
When Your Employer Can Require Overtime
New York defines overtime as any hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek.1New York State Labor Department. Overtime Frequently Asked Questions There is no state law requiring advance notice of an overtime shift, offering you a choice of hours, or limiting total weekly hours for adult workers. Federal law works the same way: the Fair Labor Standards Act restricts hours for minors under 16 but sets no ceiling for anyone 16 or older.2U.S. Department of Labor. Age Requirements
Because New York is an at-will employment state, an employer can discipline or fire a non-nurse worker who refuses assigned overtime, unless the refusal is legally protected for a reason discussed below. The whole legal structure assumes the hours can be required, then focuses on your pay.
How Overtime Must Be Paid
If you are a non-exempt employee, every hour past 40 in a workweek must be paid at one and a half times your regular hourly rate.3Department of Labor. Wages and Hours Frequently Asked Questions Someone earning $22 per hour receives $33 for each overtime hour. A union contract or employment agreement can raise that rate but never lower it.
Your regular rate is not always just your base wage. Non-discretionary bonuses and commissions earned during the workweek get folded into the calculation, which nudges the overtime rate up.4eCFR. 29 CFR 778.115 Employees Working at Two or More Rates
Live-In Domestic Workers
Residential employees follow a different threshold. Live-in domestic workers earn overtime for hours worked beyond 44 in a workweek rather than 40, still at time and a half.3Department of Labor. Wages and Hours Frequently Asked Questions
Spread of Hours Pay
New York adds a rule that triggers when your workday stretches long, even if you were not actively working the whole time. If the span from the start of your first shift to the end of your last exceeds 10 hours in a single day, you are owed an extra hour of pay at the applicable minimum wage rate.5Cornell Law Institute. New York Comp Codes R and Regs Tit 12 146-1.6 – Spread of Hours Greater Than 10 in Restaurants and All-Year Hotels Breaks, meal periods, and off-duty gaps all count toward that span. The rule covers restaurants, hotels, and a broad category of miscellaneous industries and occupations.6NY.Gov. Minimum Wage Order for Miscellaneous Industries and Occupations
As of January 1, 2026, New York’s minimum wage is $17.00 per hour in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, and $16.00 per hour in the rest of the state.7Department of Labor. Minimum Wage Those are the rates used to calculate spread-of-hours pay.
Who Is Exempt from Overtime Pay
Certain salaried employees are classified as exempt, which means the employer owes no overtime premium no matter how many hours you work. Exemption requires meeting both a salary test and a job duties test. Miss either and you are entitled to overtime.
The Salary Threshold
New York’s minimum salary for the executive and administrative exemptions is much higher than the federal floor. As of January 1, 2026, the weekly minimum is $1,275.00 in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, and $1,199.10 in the rest of the state.6NY.Gov. Minimum Wage Order for Miscellaneous Industries and Occupations That works out to roughly $66,300 downstate and $62,353 upstate. If your employer pays less than that and calls you exempt, the exemption fails in New York regardless of your title.
The Job Duties Test
Meeting the salary alone is not enough. Your actual work must fit one of the recognized categories:
- Executive: your primary duty is managing the business or a recognized department, you regularly direct at least two full-time employees, and you have real authority over hiring and firing or your recommendations carry significant weight.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17B – Exemption for Executive Employees Under the FLSA
- Administrative: you perform office or non-manual work tied to management or general business operations and regularly exercise independent judgment on significant matters.
- Professional: your work requires advanced knowledge in a specialized field, typically from extended formal education, and you consistently exercise discretion.
- Computer professional: you work as a systems analyst, programmer, software engineer, or similar role, with primary duties in systems analysis, software design, or program development. If paid hourly, you must earn at least $27.63 per hour. Workers who simply use computers heavily, like engineers running design software, do not qualify.9U.S. Department of Labor. Exemption for Employees in Computer-Related Occupations Under the FLSA
- Outside sales: you spend most of your working time away from the employer’s premises making sales or obtaining contracts. Phone or internet sales do not count unless they supplement in-person calls.10eCFR. Subpart F – Outside Sales Employees
Job title is not the test; actual duties are. Labeling a position “manager” does not make it exempt if the employee spends most of their time doing the same non-supervisory work as everyone else.
Nurses Can Refuse Mandatory Overtime
Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses are the one group with an outright statutory ban on forced overtime. Section 167 of the New York Labor Law prohibits healthcare employers from requiring a nurse to work beyond regularly scheduled hours.11New York State Department of Labor. Section 167 – Restrictions on Consecutive Hours of Work for Nurses Nurses can always volunteer for extra hours. The employer cannot make them mandatory except in four narrow situations:
- A healthcare disaster, meaning a natural or other disaster that increases the need for healthcare workers in the nurse’s county or a neighboring county.
- A federal, state, or county emergency declaration in effect in the nurse’s county or a neighboring county.
- An unforeseen staffing emergency, meaning an unexpected event that could not have been planned for and does not regularly occur, where the nurse’s continued work is necessary for safe patient care.
- An ongoing medical or surgical procedure in which the nurse is actively involved and their continued presence is needed for patient safety.12New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 167
Even when one of those exceptions applies, the employer must first make a good-faith effort to fill the shift voluntarily by contacting per diem staff, agency nurses, or off-duty employees.13Department of Labor. Mandatory Overtime for Nurses
Employers who violate Section 167 face civil penalties of up to $1,000 for a first offense, $2,000 for a second violation within 12 months, and $3,000 for a third or subsequent violation in that period. Violations occurring during a legitimate emergency carry a lower maximum penalty of $500.13Department of Labor. Mandatory Overtime for Nurses
You Are Entitled to One Day of Rest Each Week
New York does not cap total weekly hours, but it does guarantee most workers at least 24 consecutive hours of rest every calendar week. Section 161 of the Labor Law covers employees in factories, mercantile establishments, hotels, restaurants, and buildings where watchmen, engineers, janitors, or superintendents work. Domestic workers and farm laborers are also entitled to a weekly rest day.14NY.Gov. One Day Rest in Seven – Section 161 of the New York State Labor Law Your employer must designate the rest day in advance and cannot permit you to work through it. Even if your employer stacks every other day with long shifts, one full day off each week is protected.
When Refusing Overtime Is Legally Protected
If you are not a nurse and not covered by a union contract that restricts mandatory overtime, refusing an assigned overtime shift can cost you your job. Two federal laws create exceptions where refusal is protected and retaliation is illegal.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employee whose disability prevents them from working overtime can request a modified schedule as a reasonable accommodation. The employer must engage in an interactive process to find a workable solution unless doing so would impose undue hardship on the business. If overtime is an essential function of the job, the employer may not have to waive it entirely, but must consider alternatives like reassignment or restructured duties.15U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the ADA
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to accommodate sincerely held religious practices that conflict with work schedules, including mandatory overtime. Common accommodations include flexible scheduling around Sabbath observance or daily prayer times. The employer can deny the request only if it would create a substantial burden on business operations.16EEOC. Fact Sheet – Religious Accommodations in the Workplace
In both cases, you need to make your employer aware of the conflict. You do not need to use specific legal terminology or submit a formal written request. A plain conversation explaining your situation is enough to trigger the employer’s obligation to work with you.
Filing a Claim for Unpaid Overtime
If your employer is not paying overtime correctly, file a wage claim with the New York State Department of Labor using the Labor Standards Complaint form (LS223), which can be submitted online or by mail. The agency can also be reached at 888-525-2267.17Department of Labor. Unpaid/Withheld Wages and Wage Supplements
New York gives you six years to file a claim for unpaid wages, well beyond the federal two-year window (or three years for willful violations). Under Section 198, a successful claim recovers the full unpaid wages plus liquidated damages equal to 100 percent of what was owed, effectively doubling the recovery. Attorney’s fees and prejudgment interest are also available. The only way an employer avoids liquidated damages is by proving a good-faith belief that they were paying correctly.18New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 198