Dive Brief:

• The New York Labor Dept. surprised employers by slipping an overtime rule past the state’s minimum-wage increase, reports Crain’s New York Business.
• New York employers knew the state’s minimum wage would rise to $11 an hour for midsize to large organizations and $10.50 for small employers on Dec. 31. The state had required them to pay overtime to employees making up to $675 a week, or about $35,000 a year, reports Crain’s.
• But on Dec. 28, the NY Labor Dept. raised the OT ceiling to $825 a week, or $42,000 a year, for employers with more than 10 workers and $787.50, or $40,000 a year, for employers with fewer than 10 workers. The state’s new rule largely went unnoticed, says Crain’s, because New Yorkers were focused on the minimum wage increase.

Dive Insight:

The U.S. Labor Dept.’s new overtime threshold (still enjoined at present) was way above that of New York. But now that the NY DOL has raised its overtime threshold, employers in the state will still be paying more in overtime wages on top of the minimum wage increase.

Ken Pokalsky, VP of Gov't Affairs for The Business Council of New York State, told Crain’s that the stay in the federal overtime rule, which the U.S. DOL successfully appealed, changes the context of the state’s rule. The stay, which is still in effect, might give employers who haven’t already complied with the rule at least a temporary reprieve.

However, given the atmosphere around labor policy that the November elections ushered in, the reprieve could be become permanent once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.