New York working hours are governed by a mix of state labor law and federal wage rules, and the short version is this: there is no legal cap on how many hours an adult can be scheduled in a day or week, but overtime pay is owed after 40 hours, meal breaks are mandatory on shifts of six hours or more, and workers in many industries are entitled to at least one full day off each week. Where you work in the state and what industry you work in both change the specifics.
Daily and Weekly Hour Limits
No general New York law limits how many hours an adult employee can work in a day or a week. An employer can schedule 50, 60, or more hours as long as it pays required overtime and follows the other rules below. The 40-hour week is a payroll convention, not a legal ceiling.
What the law does guarantee, for many workers, is a weekly day off. Labor Law Section 161 requires 24 consecutive hours of rest in each calendar week for employees in factories, hotels, restaurants, retail stores, movie theaters, freight or passenger elevators, building services, and farm work (excluding the farmer’s immediate family).1NY.Gov. One Day Rest in Seven Section 161 of The New York State Labor Law (LS611) The Commissioner of Labor can grant a variance where strict compliance is impractical, provided the spirit of the law is preserved.
Domestic workers get a parallel protection: at least 24 hours of rest every seven days, with overtime owed if the worker voluntarily agrees to work on that rest day.2New York State Department of Labor. Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights
Employees outside those covered industries have no statutory right to a day off. Their schedules are governed by their employment agreement and by whatever overtime, break, and minimum wage rules apply.
Overtime After 40 Hours
Most employees who work more than 40 hours in a single workweek must be paid one and a half times their regular hourly rate for the excess hours. New York follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act on this threshold and layers its own wage orders on top.3Department of Labor. Wages and Hours Frequently Asked Questions Unlike California, New York does not trigger overtime based on daily hours. Only the weekly total matters.
Live-in domestic workers are the main exception: their overtime begins at 44 hours in a workweek rather than 40.4Department of Labor. Overtime Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The 2026 minimum wage feeds directly into overtime math: $17.00 per hour in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, and $16.00 in the rest of the state.5Department of Labor. Minimum Wage
Salary Thresholds for Exempt Employees
A salary alone does not make you exempt from overtime. To qualify as exempt, you must perform executive or administrative duties and earn above a set weekly salary. As of January 1, 2026, those minimums are:
- New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties: $1,275.00 per week (about $66,300 per year)
- Rest of New York State: $1,199.10 per week (about $62,353 per year)
If you earn less than the applicable threshold, your employer generally owes you overtime regardless of your job title or salaried status.6Department of Labor. Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions
The federal floor is lower. After a federal court vacated the Department of Labor’s 2024 rule that would have raised it, the FLSA salary threshold reverted to $684 per week ($35,568 per year).7U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions New York’s higher numbers are the ones that apply to workers in the state.
Spread-of-Hours Pay
Restaurant and all-year hotel employees whose workday spans more than ten hours from clock-in to clock-out (counting meal periods and any off-duty gaps) earn one extra hour of pay at the basic minimum hourly rate. This is separate from overtime and does not fold into the overtime calculation.8LII / Legal Information Institute. New York Codes, Rules and Regulations 12 NYCRR 146-1.6 – Spread of Hours Greater Than 10 in Restaurants and All-Year Hotels It applies to every employee in those industries, even those earning well above minimum wage.
Meal Breaks
New York requires meal breaks. Federal law does not. The state rules split workers into factory and non-factory categories.
Factory Workers
Factory employees get a 60-minute lunch break between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on any shift of six hours or longer that spans that window. On shifts of more than six hours that start between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., they receive a 60-minute meal break at the midpoint of the shift.9New York Department of Labor. Meal and Rest Periods Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Non-Factory Workers
Everyone else, including office, retail, hospitality, and healthcare workers, gets a 30-minute lunch break between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. for shifts of six hours or more that extend over the noonday period. Shifts of more than six hours starting between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. require a 45-minute meal break at the midpoint.9New York Department of Labor. Meal and Rest Periods Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Extra Break for Long Days
Any worker whose shift runs from before 11:00 a.m. to past 7:00 p.m. is entitled to an additional 20-minute meal break between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. That break stacks on top of the midday break.9New York Department of Labor. Meal and Rest Periods Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Meal breaks that meet the statutory requirements are unpaid. If your employer requires you to stay at your workstation or remain on call during the break, the time counts as hours worked and must be paid.
Rest Breaks and Call-In Pay
New York does not require short rest breaks. But when an employer allows breaks of 5 to 20 minutes, that time must be paid; deducting it from your paycheck is a wage violation.3Department of Labor. Wages and Hours Frequently Asked Questions
If you show up for a scheduled shift and are sent home early, call-in pay applies. For most private-sector employees, the minimum is four hours at the applicable minimum wage rate or the length of the scheduled shift, whichever is less.10LII / Legal Information Institute. New York Codes, Rules and Regulations 12 NYCRR 142-3.3 – Call-In Pay Restaurant and hotel workers are generally owed at least three hours at the applicable minimum wage.11New York State Attorney General. Wages and Pay
Special Rules by Industry and Age
Nurses and Mandatory Overtime
Healthcare is the one industry where New York flatly prohibits forced overtime. Under Labor Law Section 167, a healthcare employer cannot require a nurse to work beyond the hours the nurse agreed to or was normally scheduled for. The only exceptions are a genuine patient care emergency (an unforeseen situation that could not have been planned for) or a healthcare disaster such as a mass-casualty event or widespread disease outbreak.12Department of Labor. Nurse Mandatory Overtime Frequently Asked Questions Even then, the employer must first attempt to fill the shift voluntarily and exhaust every option in its written Nurse Coverage Plan.
Workers Under 18
Minors face strict daily, weekly, and nighttime limits that shift by age and by whether school is in session.
Ages 14 and 15. During school weeks, 3 hours on a school day, 8 hours on a non-school day, and 18 hours total per week. When school is out for the summer, the weekly cap rises to 40 hours with an 8-hour daily maximum. No work before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. during the school year; between June 21 and Labor Day, the evening cutoff extends to 9:00 p.m.13New York State Department of Labor. Hours of Work for Minors
Ages 16 and 17. During the school year, up to 4 hours on Monday through Thursday school-night days and up to 8 hours on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The weekly limit is 28 hours in session and 48 hours during summer and other breaks. The general curfew is 10:00 p.m., extendable to midnight before a school day with written parental consent plus school approval, or before a non-school day with parental consent alone.14Summary of New York State Child Labor Law. Permitted Working Hours for Minors Under 18 Years of Age
NYC Fast Food Scheduling
New York City adds a scheduling layer for fast food employers under the Fair Workweek Law. Covered employers must post schedules at least 14 days in advance and pay premiums when they change a schedule after that window. They cannot schedule “clopening” shifts (a late close followed by an early open) without the worker’s consent, must offer extra hours to current employees before hiring new ones, and cannot cut a worker’s hours by more than 15 percent without just cause.15NYC.gov. Fair Workweek Law – Information for Fast Food Employers These rules apply only in New York City and only to fast food chains with 30 or more locations nationally. Retail, hospitality, and other industries outside the fast food definition are not covered, and neither is the rest of the state.
If Your Employer Breaks the Rules
The New York State Department of Labor investigates wage and hour violations, and employees can also file their own lawsuits. When the Department finds underpayment, it issues an Order to Comply covering unpaid wages plus liquidated damages equal to 100 percent of that amount, along with civil penalties and interest. If the employer fails to pay within 90 days of a final order, an additional 15 percent in damages is added.16Department of Labor. P715 – Wage Theft Prevention Act
An employee who wins a wage claim in court recovers the underpayment, reasonable attorney’s fees, prejudgment interest, and, unless the employer proves a good-faith basis for its pay practices, liquidated damages of 100 percent of the unpaid wages. For willful violations of New York’s equal pay law, liquidated damages can reach 300 percent.17New York State Senate. New York Labor Law Section 198 You have six years from the date of the underpayment to sue; that clock pauses while the Department of Labor is actively investigating the complaint and resumes once the investigation concludes.18New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 663 – Civil Action
Retaliation is separately punishable. An employer that fires, threatens, or retaliates against a worker for filing a wage complaint or cooperating in an investigation faces civil penalties from $1,000 to $10,000 for a first offense and up to $20,000 for a repeat violation, plus liquidated damages of up to $20,000 per affected employee. Retaliation is also a Class B misdemeanor.19New York State Senate. New York Labor Law Section 215