On December 28, 2016, the New York State Department of Labor issued notices of adoption of new rules, effective December 31, 2016, substantially increasing the minimum required weekly salary thresholds for qualification for the executive and administrative overtime exemptions. The rules are significant for New York employers because rules issued by the federal Department of Labor similarly increasing the salary thresholds nationwide have been enjoined by a federal court and are of uncertain prospects, in light of the incoming new Presidential administration. In New York City, for employers with 11 or more employees, the New York rules increase the 2017 minimum weekly salary threshold for the executive and administrative exemptions from $675 per week ($35,100 annually) to $825 per week ($42,952 annually). As noted in our memorandum on the federal overtime regulations, available
here, increases to the federal salary thresholds for the so-called “white collar” exemptions from $23,660 annually to $47,476 annually have been preliminarily enjoined. New York’s regulations confirm that employers in that State must comport with the new rules notwithstanding the federal developments.