New York City restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

New York City's $17.00 minimum wage isn't a city ordinance: state law sets it for the five boroughs, a dollar above the $16.00 in most of the state, along with a $11.35 cash wage for tipped food service workers (NY State, minimum wage). What the city adds is its own leave and scheduling law. Its Protected Time Off Law, amended in February 2026, gives workers paid sick time (unpaid at the smallest businesses) plus unpaid time they can use from the first day, and its Fair Workweek law puts fast food chains on fixed, posted schedules.

This page puts what a restaurant or café in New York City owes in one place: the city's own rules first, then the New York and federal rules that apply in New York City as everywhere else in the state, two example weeks with the math shown, and what Mays does with each. Every figure links to the official page it comes from.

Updated October 5, 2026: these figures are still current. New York City's minimum wage is $17.00 an hour ($11.35 cash wage for tipped employees). No increase is scheduled (NY DOL, minimum wage).

This is general information, not legal advice. Whether a rule applies can depend on your business's size and your own facts; the note at the end says more.

New York City pay rules at a glance

As of August 24, 2026:

Sources: NY State, minimum wage; NY DOL, tipped workers; NY DOL, minimum wage; US DOL, state minimum wage laws; NYC DCWP, Fair Workweek; NYC DCWP, Protected Time Off.

Who New York City's rate covers: New York City (five boroughs).

New York City vs. New York: what the city changes

Where New York City sets a rule of its own, it applies on top of New York's, and an employer follows whichever gives the employee more. Here are the two side by side:

Our data has no New York City rule of its own on overtime, breaks, tip pools or food handler training, so the New York and federal rules below apply in New York City as they do across the state. For New York's rules in full, with their own worked examples, see New York restaurant pay rules (2026).

New York City's minimum wage and tipped wage come from state law, which sets one rate for the city and another for the rest of the state; the city's own laws are the ones on leave and scheduling.

What you must pay tipped staff in New York City

New York law sets no minimum amount of tips for the tip credit (NY DOL, tipped workers).

In a restaurant that usually means servers, bartenders, bussers and counter staff who serve customers, including baristas who get tips. Cooks and dishwashers usually aren't tipped employees. If someone works two jobs, say a server who also works prep shifts, the tip credit applies only to the hours in the tipped job (DOL Fact Sheet #15).

You can pay tipped staff a lower cash wage and count part of their tips toward the minimum wage. That is the tip credit, and it comes with conditions:

• Pay at least $11.35 an hour in cash wages. That's the $17.00 minimum wage minus the most you can credit from tips, $5.65 (NY DOL, tipped workers).
• Cash wages plus tips must reach $17.00 for every hour worked, week by week. If tips fall short in a workweek, you pay the difference by the regular payday for that week (DOL Fact Sheet #15).
• Tell them first. Before you take the tip credit, tell each tipped employee, in writing or out loud: the cash wage you pay, the tip credit you claim, that the credit can't be more than the tips they actually get, that they keep all their tips except through a valid tip pool, and that the credit doesn't apply unless you've told them all this (DOL Fact Sheet #15).
• Overtime is figured on the full minimum wage. An overtime hour is worth 1.5 × $17.00 = $25.50. After the $5.65 tip credit, you pay at least $19.85 of it in cash wages (DOL Fact Sheet #15).

You don't have to take the tip credit. If you pay tipped staff the full $17.00 an hour, their tips are all on top and there's nothing to make up at the end of the week.

Side work cancels the day

The state's Hospitality Wage Order puts a hard limit on side work: if a food service worker spends two hours or more, or more than 20% of the shift, on work that doesn't bring in tips, whichever is less, you can't take the tip credit for that day at all (NY Hospitality Wage Order).

What you must pay non-tipped staff in New York City

Cooks, dishwashers, prep cooks, and cashiers or counter staff who don't get tips are paid like any other hourly employee:

• At least $17.00 an hour for every hour worked (NY State, minimum wage). No tip credit applies.
• The same goes for a tipped employee's hours in a non-tipped job, like a server's prep shift (DOL Fact Sheet #15).
• Overtime is at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. At $17.00 an hour, that's $25.50 (US DOL, state minimum wage laws).

Worked examples (made-up numbers)

The names, hours and tips below are made up. The rates are the ones that apply in New York City as of August 24, 2026.

A server's week: when you have to top up

Sam is a server in New York City paid the $11.35 cash wage. He works 30 hours in each of two weeks: a busy one with $450.00 in tips and a slow one with $110.00.

In the slow week, $110.00 in tips covers only part of the $169.50 tip credit (30 × $5.65), so you pay the difference by the regular payday: $510.00 − $450.50 = $59.50. In the busy week you owe nothing extra, and every dollar of tips is still Sam's.

A cook's week with overtime

Ana is a line cook in New York City paid the minimum wage, $17.00 an hour. She works five 9-hour days: 45 hours.

Overtime is counted by the workweek, and hours can't be averaged across two weeks: a long week earns overtime even if the next one is short (US DOL, overtime). Bonuses can change the rate too; see Time clock, breaks and overtime: first-month payroll mistakes to avoid.

Scheduling rules in New York City

New York City has a fair workweek law of its own, and it covers fast food chains only, not full-service restaurants (NYC DCWP, Fair Workweek):

• Who it covers: Fast food only; full-service (table-service) restaurants are not covered. A covered fast food establishment is part of a chain of 30 or more establishments nationally, mainly serves food and drinks, and offers limited service (customers order and pay before eating, take out, or order delivery). Franchisees of brands with more than 30 locations are covered. The retail section of the same law does not reach restaurants.
• What it requires: NYC Admin. Code Title 20, Ch. 12; 6 RCNY Ch. 7 Subch. F; enforced by DCWP. Schedules 14 days ahead. Since July 4, 2021, a written regular schedule has replaced the old good-faith estimate, and the employer cannot cut its hours more than 15% without consent. Clopening (closing then opening with less than 11 hours between) needs written consent and a $100 premium. Access to hours: new shifts go to current workers before new hires. Just-cause protection against firing or cutting hours more than 15%, and laid-off workers are reinstated by seniority.
• Advance notice: post schedules at least 14 days ahead.
• Pay for changes: Flat premiums per change made after the 14-day notice. Less than 14 days' notice: $10 per change ($20 if hours are cut). Less than 7 days: $15 ($45 if hours are cut). Less than 24 hours: $15 ($75 if hours are cut). Workers cannot waive the premium. Hours can be added only with the worker's written consent.
• Rest between shifts: the law protects the worker who closes and then opens less than 11 hours later (a "clopening"); what it takes, consent or extra pay, is in "What it requires" above.

A full-service restaurant or café that isn't part of such a chain isn't covered.

Paid sick leave in New York City

New York City has a paid sick leave ordinance of its own (NYC DCWP, Protected Time Off):

• How it's earned: 1 hour per 30 hours worked.
• Who it covers: Employers with 100 or more employees: up to 56 hours paid a year; with 5 to 99 employees, or more than $1 million in business earnings (and household employers): up to 40 hours paid; with 1 to 4 employees and less than $1 million in business earnings: up to 40 hours unpaid. Every size: 32 hours of unpaid protected time off available immediately (from February 22, 2026), plus 20 hours of paid prenatal leave.
• What else it requires: NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act, now branded the "Protected Time Off Law" (Admin. Code ch. 8, title 20). Uses include illness and care, safety, child care disruptions (school holidays), extreme weather or public emergencies, and public benefits/housing appointments. Documentation only after 4+ consecutive workdays. Pay stubs must show hours used and remaining. Restaurant note: tipped workers using paid time off must get at least the full NYC minimum wage (no tip credit) for those hours (DCWP FAQ example: $17.00 in 2026).

New York's paid sick leave law applies in New York City too (NY State, paid sick leave): NY Paid Sick Leave: employees earn at least 1 hour for every 30 worked, up to 56 hours a calendar year at employers with 100 or more employees, 40 hours at 5-99, and 40 hours at 0-4 (paid when net income is over $1 million, unpaid otherwise). New York City has its own, separate law. For each term, how fast leave is earned, how much can be used, how much carries over and how soon a new hire can use it, follow whichever of the two is more generous.

Tip pools, overtime and breaks in New York City

These are New York's rules, with the federal ones where New York sets none, and they apply in New York City as they do across the state:

• Tip pools: An employer may require food service workers to pool or share tips and set each occupation's percentage. Only employees who give personal service to patrons as a principal and regular duty may take part (wait staff, bussers, bartenders, barbacks, runners, hosts); cooks and dishwashers are excluded. Employers may deduct only the tip's pro-rated share of the card fee (NY Hospitality Wage Order). Under federal law, the business, its managers and supervisors never keep employees' tips, and with a tip credit a pool you require can include only staff who customarily and regularly receive tips (US DOL, tips).
• Service charges: Any charge beyond food, beverage, lodging and specified services (for example a 'service' charge) is presumed to be a gratuity and must go in full to the service staff (12 NYCRR 146-2.18). A banquet/special-function administrative charge may be kept only with written notice in 12-point or larger type on the contract, menu and bill saying it is not a gratuity (146-2.19) (NY Hospitality Wage Order).
• Overtime: New York's law draws the same line as the federal one (US DOL, state minimum wage laws): at least 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, with no daily overtime, double time or seventh-day premium (US DOL, overtime).
• Meal breaks: Non-factory (incl. restaurant) workers: 30-minute lunch between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. for shifts of more than 6 hours that extend over that period; 45-minute meal midway through shifts of more than 6 hours starting between 1 p.m. and 6 a.m.; all workers get an extra 20 minutes between 5 and 7 p.m. when the workday runs from before 11 a.m. to after 7 p.m. Generally unpaid. Shorter periods only with a written NYSDOL permit (NY Labor Law § 162).
• Rest breaks: No specific New York rule found — federal rules apply (NY DOL, meal and rest FAQ). The FLSA does not require breaks. Short breaks an employer offers (about 5 to 20 minutes) are paid work time (US DOL, breaks).
• Minors' breaks: No separate New York rule for minors; the adult rules above apply to them too (NY DOL, minors).

Other rules that affect pay in New York City

• Reporting-time pay: Hospitality 'call-in pay' (12 NYCRR 146-1.5). An employee who reports for duty at the employer's request or with its permission is paid at least 3 hours for one shift, 6 hours for two shifts totaling 6 hours or less, or 8 hours for three shifts totaling 8 hours or less. If the regularly scheduled shift is shorter, pay that many hours instead. Actual attendance is paid at the regular or overtime rate minus any tip credit. The unworked balance is paid at the basic minimum hourly rate with no tip credit and is not part of the regular rate. Meal or lodging credits can't offset it. Applies to all employees regardless of pay rate (NY Hospitality Wage Order).
• Split shifts and spread of hours: Hospitality Wage Order (restaurants and all-year hotels). On each day the spread of hours exceeds 10, the employee gets 1 extra hour at the basic minimum hourly rate. The spread runs from the start to the end of the workday and includes meal breaks and off-duty intervals. This applies to all restaurant employees, whatever their pay rate. Meal or lodging credits can't offset it, and it is not part of the regular rate. Part 146 defines 'split shift' (146-3.9) but has no standalone split-shift premium. A split shift triggers the extra hour only when it pushes the spread above 10 hours (NY Hospitality Wage Order).

How Mays handles this

Mays runs the schedule, time clock, tip pool and payroll export for each location. For a restaurant in New York City, that means:

• The minimum wage for the address. Turn on Labor law compliance and Mays reads each location's minimum wage from its address: a location whose city is New York or one of the five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island) gets New York City's $17.00, and tipped positions are compared with the $11.35 cash wage. It warns you when a position's default wage, someone's hourly wage or a punch is below it, and never blocks the save.
• Paid sick leave per location. With Labor law compliance on, the Sick category under Scheduling → Settings → Time off & PTO accrual shows the paid sick leave law at each location's address, and Apply these rules fills in its figures, starting with at least one hour for every 30 worked (NY State, paid sick leave). Where the law sets figures by employer size, Mays shows the largest employers', so a smaller employer can set its own. Mays has New York's figures, not New York City's own, so check the city's against the ordinance above and raise any that fall short. If the location's address doesn't name New York City, pick New York City under Where this location is. Everyone who works hours earns it from approved punches, managers included, and a figure Mays doesn't have is left open for you to fill in from the official page.
• New York City's scheduling law is yours to track. Mays doesn't check how far ahead a schedule is posted, doesn't compute pay for changes after it's posted, and doesn't warn about a closing shift followed too soon by an opening one. If your restaurant is covered, keep those records yourself.
• Overtime by the address. Staff clock in on their phone, a shared kiosk or an NFC tag, and timesheets run by pay period. Overtime is counted by the workweek, and with Labor law compliance on, by any daily, double-time and seventh-day rule New York sets too, which Mays reads from the location's address; the schedule's labor cost, the reports and the pay summary all include it.
• Spread-of-hours pay and call-in pay. Turn on Labor law compliance and Mays applies New York's rules at each location from its address and records them when a punch is clocked out, each in its own column of the pay summary and the payroll export.
• A tip pool per location. Split pooled tips by hours worked, equally or by FTAR score, and choose which positions receive. Leave managers and admins out of the pool is on by default, so leave it on. If you take your card processor's fee out of card tips, turn on Deduct the card processing fee from card tips: Mays deducts only your processor's percentage, split in proportion to each person's card tips. Each person's share appears in the Tip Payouts report and the payroll export.
• The tip-credit make-up is yours to check. Mays doesn't compare a tipped employee's cash wages plus tips with the minimum wage, so check each workweek the way the server example above does.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from these official pages, as they read on the date shown.

• New York State, New York State's minimum wage, checked September 24, 2026
• New York State Department of Labor, minimum wage, checked October 5, 2026
• New York State Department of Labor, minimum wage for tipped workers, checked October 5, 2026
• US Department of Labor, state minimum wage laws, checked September 24, 2026
• NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Fair Workweek FAQ for fast food, checked October 5, 2026
• NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Protected Time Off law for employers, checked October 5, 2026
• New York State, paid sick leave, checked September 24, 2026
• US Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #15: tipped employees under the FLSA, checked September 24, 2026
• New York Hospitality Industry Wage Order (12 NYCRR Part 146), checked September 24, 2026
• US Department of Labor, overtime pay, checked September 24, 2026
• US Department of Labor, tips under the FLSA, checked September 24, 2026
• New York Labor Law § 162, meal periods, checked September 24, 2026
• US Department of Labor, breaks and meal periods, checked September 24, 2026
• New York State Department of Labor, meal and rest periods FAQ, checked September 24, 2026
• New York State Department of Labor, hours of work for minors, checked September 24, 2026

This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and coverage rules (your business's size, whether federal law covers you) decide which of them apply. Check the pages above, and ask an employment lawyer or accountant about your situation.

Run New York City payroll on the right numbers

Give each location its New York City address, turn on Labor law compliance so the minimum wage, overtime and sick leave rules follow it, and let the time clock do the counting. Then payroll is an export, not an evening.

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