New York's Reduced Overtime Provision: a Pitfall for Employers?

Relatively tucked away in New York state’s wage and hour laws rests what has been recently termed the reduced overtime provision, which despite sounding like a penalty rather than a benefit, affords classes of workers exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act added remunerative protection. Many employers that retain such employees, however, may easily overlook and not be in compliance with this little-known provision.

With the federal and New York state minimum wages scheduled to increase to $7.25 on July 29, 2009, it is particularly important that employers understand the mechanics of the provision, at the very least to avoid civil and criminal sanctions, especially where both the state’s Department of Labor and Attorney General’s Office aggressively investigate and prosecute wage and hour violations. The provision had received virtually no coverage—in case law, commentary, or public records—until 2008 in Edwards v. Jet Blue Airways Corporation¹ and a corresponding New York State Department of Labor opinion letter, both of which provide helpful guidance for employers setting wage structures.

Locating the Provision