New York Employment Attorney Blog
Based upon 2007 amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal minimum wage is set to increase from $6.55 to $7.25. This increase results in the federal minimum wage rate once again being higher than the minimum wage required under New York law. Currently, New York law requires that employers pay a minimum wage of no less than $7.15. Because the New York minimum wage was higher than that required under the FLSA, employers were required to comply with the New York State minimum wage.
As a result, for New York employers that were already required to pay employees a minimum wage of $7.15 under New York law, this latest increase under the FLSA only results in an increase of 10 cents.
The FLSA minimum wage increase will impact employers in those states in which the minimum wage under state law was less than that provided under the FLSA. Thus, employers in those states will be required to increase their minimum wage payments by 70 cents per hour.
The 2007 amendments do not contemplate any further increase to the minimum wage rate, and there is no increase currently proposed to the New York minimum wage rate.
Thus, for now, the laws governing the payment of minimum wage and overtime pay under the FLSA and New York law will remain the same barring any further legislative action.