Smart Benefits: NY Enacts Minimum Wage Increase & Protected Paid Family Leave

Monday, April 18, 2016

Rob Calise,GoLocalWorcester Business/Health Expert

On April 4th, Governor Cuomo signed the New York State budget, which incrementally increases the state’s minimum wage and includes 12-weeks of protected paid family leave.

Minimum Wage Increase

New York’s minimum wage will increase at different rates depending on an employer’s size and their location in the state:

Employers in New York City with 11 or More Employees

1.   $11.00 on December 31, 2016
2.   $13.00 on December 31, 2017
3.   $15.00 on December 31, 2018

Employers in New York City with 10 or Fewer Employees

1.   $10.50 on December 31, 2016
2.   $12.00 on December 31, 2017
3.   $13.50 on December 31, 2018
4.   $15.00 on December 31, 2019

Employers in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties

1.   $10.00 on December 31, 2016
2.   $11.00 on December 31, 2017
3.   $12.00 on December 31, 2018
4.   $13.00 on December 31, 2019
5.   $14.00 on December 31, 2020
6.   $15.00 on December 31, 2021

All Other Employers

1.   $9.70 on December 31, 2016
2.   $10.40 on December 31, 2017
3.   $11.10 on December 31, 2018
4.   $11.80 on December 31, 2019
5.   $12.50 on December 31, 2020
6.   Additional increases on a schedule to be determined

Higher minimum wages for fast food workers, when and where applicable, will remain in effect. Beginning in 2019, following an annual regional analysis of the economy and the effects of the minimum wage increases, the state can temporarily suspend the scheduled increases, if necessary.

Paid Family Leave

The Paid Family Leave program will be funded by a payroll deduction between 45₵ and $1 per week from each employee’s paycheck, which will become part of the deduction for New York State’s Temporary Disability Insurance. It will not require a contribution from employers.

Like the minimum wage increase, paid family leave will be phased-in. Beginning in 2018, paid leave benefits will be set at 50 percent of an employee’s average weekly wage and capped at 50 percent of the statewide average weekly wage. When fully implemented in 2021, the benefits will be set at 67 percent of an employee’s average weekly wage and capped at 67 percent of the statewide average weekly wage.

When the plan is fully phased-in, employees who have worked for an employer for six months will be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid family leave. Leading up to the full phase-in, employees will be eligible for 8 weeks in 2018, 10 weeks in 2019 and 2020, and 12 weeks starting in 2021. Employees may use the leave, which is protected, to care for and bond with newborns or newly adopted children or foster children, to take care of themselves or a family member with a serious health condition, or to address certain legal, financial, and childcare issues that arise when a spouse is called to active military service.

{image_2}Rob Calise is the Managing Director, Employee Benefits. of Cornerstone|Gencorp, where he helps clients control the costs of employee benefits by focusing on consumer driven strategies and on how to best utilize the tax savings tools the government provides. Rob serves as Chairman of the Board of United Benefit Advisors, and is a board member of the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI Broker Advisory Board, United HealthCare of New England Broker Advisory Board and Rhode Island Business Healthcare Advisors Council. He is also a member of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), American Health Insurance Association (AHIA) and the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC), as well as various human resource associations. Rob is a graduate of Bryant University with a BS in Finance.

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