New York Overtime Calculator: the complete guide
New York's overtime rate tracks the federal FLSA formula — 1.5x the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek — under 12 NYCRR 142-2.2, with no separate state daily-overtime trigger. What makes New York different from a simple federal-only state is its minimum wage, which is split into two regional tiers rather than one statewide number, and a separate "spread of hours" rule that is easy to confuse with overtime but is legally a different requirement entirely.
This page covers the standard 40-hour overtime calculation plus New York's two-tier minimum wage and the spread-of-hours rule it's most often confused with, so you don't apply the wrong region's rate or mistake a spread-of-hours payment for overtime pay.
How overtime works in New York
A non-exempt New York employee is owed 1.5x their regular rate for every hour worked over 40 in a single workweek. New York has no daily-overtime rule; a single long shift produces no overtime by itself unless the week's total exceeds 40 hours.
An employee earning $28.00/hr works 50 hours in one workweek. The first 40 hours are straight time: 40 x $28.00 = $1,120.00. The remaining 10 hours are overtime at 1.5x: 10 x $42.00 = $420.00. Total pay for the week: $1,120.00 + $420.00 = $1,540.00.
New York's two-tier minimum wage
New York does not have one statewide minimum wage. Under N.Y. Labor Law Sec. 652, New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County, and Westchester County are set at $17.00/hr, while the rest of the state (everywhere else, including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany) is set at $16.00/hr. Both tiers are scheduled to move together starting with CPI indexing on January 1, 2027, keeping the $1.00 gap between them fixed going forward.
Which tier applies depends on where the work is physically performed, not where the employer is headquartered; a company based in Manhattan that has a warehouse crew working in Rochester owes the Rochester crew the $16.00/hr rest-of-state rate, not the $17.00/hr metro rate.
The spread-of-hours rule is not overtime
New York has a separate wage-order requirement, unrelated to overtime, called "spread of hours": if an employee's workday spans more than 10 hours from the start of their first shift segment to the end of their last (including unpaid breaks in between), they are owed one additional hour of pay at the minimum wage, regardless of how many hours they actually worked. This is not an overtime calculation and is out of scope for this calculator, but it commonly applies to the same long, split-shift days that also trigger genuine overtime, so it's worth checking separately rather than assuming the overtime calculation already covers it.
New York also has its own "call-in pay" rule requiring a minimum payment when an employee is scheduled and then sent home early or has a shift canceled with insufficient notice; like spread of hours, this is a distinct wage-order requirement, not an overtime rule.
Exemptions and the regular rate
New York generally follows the federal FLSA exemption categories for executive, administrative, and professional employees, though New York's own exempt salary thresholds for the executive and administrative exemptions are set separately by wage order and vary by region and employer size, in some cases exceeding the federal $684/week figure. As under federal law, a nondiscretionary bonus must be folded into the regular rate before the 1.5x overtime multiplier is applied.
Working two roles at different pay rates for the same employer
New York's restaurant, retail, and building-services employers commonly schedule the same worker across two different jobs in one workweek, each at its own hourly rate — a host role and a server role, for instance. Federal law, which governs this calculation in New York as well, does not allow 1.5x to be applied to whichever single rate happened to be in effect during the overtime hours. Instead, both rates are blended into one weighted-average regular rate for the week, and overtime is calculated from that blended figure.
An employee works 30 hours at $20.00/hr in one role and 20 hours at $15.00/hr in a second role for the same employer, 50 hours total for the week. Straight-time earnings: (30 x $20.00) + (20 x $15.00) = $600.00 + $300.00 = $900.00. The weighted-average regular rate is $900.00 / 50 = $18.00/hr. Since straight-time pay already covers the base rate for every hour, only an extra 0.5x the regular rate is owed for the 10 overtime hours: 10 x ($18.00 x 0.5) = $90.00. Total pay for the week: $900.00 + $90.00 = $990.00.
Recordkeeping and your rights
New York requires employers to give non-exempt employees written notice of their pay rate and payday at hiring under the Wage Theft Prevention Act, which makes it easier for an employee to verify the correct regional minimum wage tier and regular rate are being used. Keep your pay stubs, the wage notice you received, and your own log of daily hours for each role and region you work in, since a multi-role, multi-tier, or spread-of-hours dispute is resolved largely on that documentation. The New York State Department of Labor generally allows six years to bring a state wage claim, longer than the federal two- or three-year window, so a delayed claim is not automatically out of time.
Common mistakes
Applying the wrong regional minimum wage tier. Paying the $16.00/hr rest-of-state rate to an employee physically working in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, or Westchester understates their pay by $1.00/hr, or $40.00 in a 40-hour week.
Treating spread-of-hours pay as satisfying overtime obligations. Paying the extra spread-of-hours hour for a long split-shift day does not substitute for overtime pay owed separately if the workweek total also exceeds 40 hours; the two requirements are independent and both may apply to the same week.
Assuming New York has a daily-overtime rule. Treating a single 12-hour New York shift as automatically triggering overtime (as California would) is incorrect; New York uses the federal weekly-only 40-hour rule, with no daily trigger.
Ignoring a nondiscretionary bonus in the overtime rate. Applying 1.5x to a bare hourly rate while an earned production or attendance bonus goes unaccounted for understates every overtime hour paid that week.
New York's two minimum wage tiers
| Region | Minimum wage |
|---|---|
| NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester | $17.00/hr |
| Rest of New York State | $16.00/hr |
| Overtime rule (both regions) | 1.5x over 40 hours/week, federal formula |
How to file a claim
If your New York paycheck doesn't reflect the correct regional minimum wage or overtime calculation, raise it first with your employer or payroll department, since applying the wrong regional tier is a common and correctable error. If that doesn't resolve it, you can file a wage claim with the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), which investigates unpaid overtime, minimum wage, and spread-of-hours claims at no cost. New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL).
Frequently asked questions
- Does New York have its own overtime rate different from the federal rate?
- No. New York's overtime rate is the same 1.5x-over-40-hours formula as the federal FLSA, under 12 NYCRR 142-2.2, with no separate state daily-overtime rule. What differs in New York is the minimum wage, which is regionally tiered rather than a single statewide figure.
- How do I know which New York minimum wage tier applies to me?
- The tier depends on where the work is physically performed: New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County, and Westchester County use the $17.00/hr metro rate, while every other county in the state uses the $16.00/hr rest-of-state rate. It is based on the physical work location, not the employer's headquarters or where paychecks are issued.
- Is spread-of-hours pay the same as overtime?
- No, they are two separate requirements. Spread of hours pays one additional hour at minimum wage when a workday spans more than 10 hours from first clock-in to last clock-out, regardless of total hours worked, while overtime pays 1.5x the regular rate for hours actually worked over 40 in the week; a single long, split-shift day can trigger both independently.
- Is there daily overtime in New York?
- No. New York uses the federal weekly-only rule: a single 12- or 14-hour shift produces no overtime by itself unless the week's total hours exceed 40. Only the 40-hour weekly threshold matters for overtime purposes in New York.
- What is New York's call-in pay rule?
- It's a separate wage-order requirement guaranteeing a minimum payment when an employee is scheduled for a shift and then sent home early or has the shift canceled without sufficient advance notice, unrelated to overtime pay. Like spread of hours, it exists to compensate for the burden of being scheduled, not for hours actually worked over a threshold.
- Do New York's exempt salary thresholds match the federal $684/week figure?
- Not exactly. New York sets its own exempt salary thresholds for executive and administrative employees by wage order, and these vary by region and sometimes by employer size, in some cases exceeding the federal $684/week figure. An employee could be non-exempt under New York's higher threshold even if they would meet the federal salary test alone.
- How does a bonus affect New York overtime pay?
- A nondiscretionary bonus must be folded into the regular rate before the 1.5x overtime multiplier is applied, the same requirement as under federal law generally. Skipping this step and applying 1.5x to the bare hourly rate understates every overtime hour paid in a week where such a bonus was earned.
- Where do I file an unpaid overtime claim in New York?
- You can file a wage claim with the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), which investigates unpaid overtime, minimum wage, spread-of-hours, and call-in pay violations at no cost and without requiring an attorney. Keep your pay stubs and a personal log of your daily start and stop times, since New York's regional tiers and spread-of-hours rule both depend on precise timing.