New York minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

The minimum wage in New York is $17.00 an hour.

Minimum wage

$17.00

For a 40-hour week

$680.00

Source: N.Y. Labor Law 652(1); 12 NYCRR 146-1.2 (Hospitality Industry Wage Order). $16.00 is the 'Remainder of New York State' rate; New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester are $17.00 (see notes). Read the rule

Employers in New York can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $11.35 an hour and count up to $5.65 an hour of tips toward the $17.00 minimum. That is called a tip credit. Your cash wage plus the tips you keep must reach at least $17.00 for every hour in each workweek. If they do not, your employer has to make up the difference.

Tips can count toward the wage

Yes

Tipped cash wage

$11.35

Maximum tip credit

$5.65

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: 12 NYCRR 146-1.3 (tip credit, hospitality only); 12 NYCRR 146-2.2 (written notice of tip credit before employment and before any change); 12 NYCRR 146-3.4 (food service worker). $10.70 is the food service worker cash wage for the Remainder of New York State; NYC, Long Island and Westchester food service workers are $11.35 (tip credit $5.65). Read the rule

• Hours past 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate.

Overtime rate at minimum wage

$25.50

Overtime cash rate with a tip credit

$19.85

For tipped workers, overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage. At $17.00, that is $25.50 an hour, so with the full tip credit the overtime cash rate cannot be less than $19.85.

Source: 12 NYCRR 146-1.4: overtime for tipped employees is 1.5 x the regular rate before subtracting the tip credit, then minus the tip credit; subtracting the tip credit first is a violation. 12 NYCRR 146-1.6 (spread of hours, not modeled). Read the rule

Meal break

30 minutes when you work more than 6 hours

Rest break

Not required

Extra pay for a missed break

No

New York requires these breaks but does not set a fixed premium, like an extra hour of pay, when one is missed. If you work through a meal break, that time has to be paid.

Source: N.Y. Labor Law 162: 30-minute meal period for non-factory shifts over 6 hours that span 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; 45 minutes midway for shifts over 6 hours starting between 1 p.m. and 6 a.m.; an additional 20 minutes between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. for workdays running from before 11 a.m. to after 7 p.m. No short rest breaks required; any given must be paid. No premium pay for a missed meal period. Read the rule

Taxes and deductions you agreed to, like health insurance, are normal. These are the ones that cause trouble in restaurants and bars, and what New York allows:

Required uniforms

Not allowed

Register or cash shortages

Not allowed

Broken dishes or equipment

Not allowed

Card processing fee on card tips

Only if pay stays above minimum

Customers who walk out

Not allowed

"Only if pay stays above minimum" means the deduction cannot take your pay for the week below minimum wage. For a worker paid a tipped cash wage, that usually leaves no room for a uniform, shortage, breakage or walkout deduction. A card fee works differently: only the fee on the card tip itself, taken from that tip.

Source: N.Y. Labor Law 193 (only listed deductions permitted; deductions for breakages, cash shortages and losses to the business are illegal); 12 NYCRR 146-1.8 (employer must reimburse required uniform purchases) and 146-1.7 (uniform maintenance pay); 12 NYCRR 146-2.20 (employer may withhold the employee's pro-rated share of the credit card processing fee from charged tips). Read the rule

Managers and owners can share in the pool

No

Kitchen staff can share when a tip credit is taken

No

Kitchen staff can share when no tip credit is taken

No

In most states, an employer can require tipped staff to pool tips with others who serve customers, like bussers, runners and bartenders. Managers, supervisors and owners can never take a share. Under federal law, cooks and dishwashers can share only when the employer takes no tip credit, and some states do not allow it at all. The answers above show the rule in New York.

Source: N.Y. Labor Law 196-d; 12 NYCRR 146-2.14 (eligible occupations are those who personally serve customers: wait staff, counter staff, bussers, bartenders, barbacks, food runners, captains, hosts who greet and seat); 12 NYCRR 146-2.16 (only food service workers may receive tip pool distributions). Cooks, dishwashers and other back-of-house staff may not share regardless of tip credit. Read the rule

Under federal law, a mandatory service charge, like an automatic 20% on large parties, is not a tip. It belongs to the business unless it is paid out, and when it is paid to you it counts as wages. It cannot be used to cover the tip credit, and it should not be reported as tips on your stub. Some states give the charge to the staff when customers were not clearly told it is not a tip, so if a charge was presented as a gratuity, it is worth asking where it went.

Source: N.Y. Labor Law 196-d; 12 NYCRR 146-2.18 (a charge purported to be a gratuity must be paid in full to the service employees; any charge for 'service' is presumed to be a gratuity); 12 NYCRR 146-2.19 (an administrative charge is not a gratuity only if customers are clearly told so in the contract, menu and bill in at least 12-point type). Read the rule

New York requires employers to give paid sick leave.

You earn

1 hour for every 30 hours worked

Yearly use can be capped at

40 hours

Source: N.Y. Labor Law 196-b. Paid: up to 40 hours/year for employers with 5-99 employees (and 0-4 employees with net income over $1 million); up to 56 hours/year for employers with 100 or more employees. Unpaid up to 40 hours for employers with 0-4 employees and net income of $1 million or less. Read the rule

Some parts of New York law depend on things a pay stub does not show. A TruWage result for New York can be off if any of these apply to you:

• This check uses the $17.00 downstate rate and $11.35 tipped cash wage. If you work outside New York City, Long Island, or Westchester, your minimum is $16.00 and cash wage $10.70, so the result is up to $1.00 an hour too high.
• If any day ran more than 10 hours from your first clock-in to your last clock-out, you are owed one extra hour at the full minimum wage for that day. This check does not count spread-of-hours pay or the 3-hour call-in minimum.
• If on any day you spent more than 2 hours or more than 20 percent of your shift on side work that does not earn tips, no tip credit may be taken for that day and you are owed the full minimum wage for it. This check cannot see that.
• If a service charge was added to customer bills and not paid to you, New York presumes it is your tip unless customers were clearly told on the menu, contract, and bill that it is not a gratuity. This check cannot see that disclosure.
• If you are a tipped hotel worker who does not serve food, your downstate cash wage is $14.15, not $11.35. If your job is outside restaurants and hotels, no tip credit is allowed at all and you are owed the full minimum wage.

Start with your manager or payroll and show them the numbers. Many mistakes get fixed that way. If it is not fixed, you can file a wage claim. It is free and you do not need a lawyer.

Agency

New York State Department of Labor, Division of Labor Standards

Phone

1-888-525-2267

File form LS 223 (Labor Standards Complaint) online through the link on the claim page or by mail to NYS DOL, Division of Labor Standards, Harriman State Office Campus, Building 12, Room 185B, Albany, NY 12226. Claims covering wages earned more than three years ago are not accepted. Minimum wage help line: 1-888-469-7365 (1-888-4NYSDOL).

How to file a wage claim

You can also file with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, which enforces federal wage law, at 1-866-487-9243. They take complaints in many languages and keep the name of the person complaining confidential.