The Statutes Behind This Guide

New York Labor Law, article 6: payment of wages

§ 190(1): "Wages" are "the earnings of an employee for labor or services rendered, regardless of whether the amount of earnings is determined on a time, piece, commission or other basis." An earned commission is a wage. Are my commissions protected?
§ 190(6): A "commission salesman" is an employee whose principal activity is selling and whose earnings are based in whole or part on commissions. It excludes an employee "whose principal activity is of a supervisory, managerial, executive or administrative nature." Who is covered
§ 191(1)(c): A commission salesperson must be paid all earned money in accordance with the agreed terms, at least monthly and no later than the last day of the month following the month it was earned. The agreed terms must be in writing, signed by both sides, kept three years, and must describe how the pay is calculated, how often a recoverable draw is reconciled, and what happens on termination. If the employer fails to produce that writing on the Commissioner’s request, the salesperson’s version of the terms is presumed correct. The written plan
§ 191(2): "No employee shall be required as a condition of employment to accept wages at periods other than as provided in this section." A long hold on a departing salesperson’s commissions runs into this. Plan terms that fail
§ 191(3): On termination, wages are due no later than the regular payday for the pay period in which the termination occurred. When you leave
§ 193: No deductions from wages except those required by law or authorized in writing by the employee from a short listed set for the employee’s benefit, plus recovery of clerical overpayments and wage advances under the Department’s rules. § 193(3)(a) also bars a "charge against wages" and any demand that the employee repay by separate transaction. § 193(5), added in 2021, provides that there is "no exception to liability under this section for the unauthorized failure to pay wages." The overpayment and advance provisions expire November 6, 2028. Chargebacks and clawbacks
§ 195(1), (2), (3): A wage notice at hiring stating the rate and the basis of pay, including commission; written notice of a change to that information at least seven calendar days before it takes effect, unless the change appears on the wage statement; and a wage statement with every payment. § 195(3) ends: "Upon the request of an employee, an employer shall furnish an explanation in writing of how such wages were computed." Pay stubs and notices
§ 198: Remedies. On a successful wage claim the court shall award the underpayment, prejudgment interest, all reasonable attorney’s fees, and an additional 100% in liquidated damages unless the employer proves a good-faith basis for believing it complied — which takes both an actual belief and an objectively reasonable one, shown by active steps to learn what the law required. § 198(3): six years. § 198(4): an automatic 15% increase on any amount still unpaid 90 days after judgment. § 198(1-b) and (1-d) carry the wage-notice and wage-statement damages, up to $5,000 each. What you can recover
§ 215: Retaliation. It protects a complaint the employee reasonably and in good faith believes concerns a violation of the Labor Law, and the complaint "need not make explicit reference to any section or provision." Two years to sue, notice to the Attorney General at or before filing, and liquidated damages capped at $20,000. Retaliation
§ 740: The whistleblower law, as amended in 2022. It covers employees, former employees and natural persons working as independent contractors, protects internal disclosure to a supervisor as well as disclosure to a public body, and allows punitive damages for a willful violation. Note § 740(6): a court may award the employer its fees if the action was without basis in law or fact. Reporting illegal conduct

Independent sales representatives

§ 191-a: Definitions. A "sales representative" is an independent contractor who solicits orders in New York for a principal that manufactures, produces, imports or distributes a product for wholesale, and "commission" means a percentage of those wholesale orders. Absent a contract term, a commission is earned when the merchandise is delivered, accepted and paid for, "notwithstanding that the sales representative’s services may have terminated." Wholesale reps
§ 191-b: The principal must put the commission method in a written contract, give the representative a signed copy and take a signed receipt. During the contract, earned commissions are due within five business days. Wholesale reps
§ 191-c: On termination, all earned commissions are due within five business days, or within five business days after they come due. A principal that fails to comply owes double damages, with no willfulness requirement, and "the prevailing party" gets fees and costs, which can mean either side. Wholesale reps

Freelancers

General Business Law §§ 1410–1414: The Freelance Isn’t Free Act, statewide since August 28, 2024. A written contract is required at $800 or more, counting work for the same hiring party over the prior 120 days; payment is due by the contract date or within 30 days of completion; retaliation is barred; remedies are double damages for nonpayment, $250 for a missing contract, the contract’s value for retaliation, and attorney’s fees. Six years, except two years for the contract claim. Wholesale sales representatives, lawyers, licensed medical professionals and construction contractors are excluded. Freelancers
NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-927 to 20-936: New York City’s Freelance Isn’t Free law, in force since May 15, 2017, with the same structure. § 20-933(a)(5): a claim resting only on the missing written contract requires proof that the freelancer asked for one before the work began. Freelancers

Reaching the owners

Business Corporation Law § 630: The ten largest shareholders of a corporation are jointly and severally liable for unpaid wages, for a domestic corporation or a foreign corporation where the services were performed in New York. Written notice of intention to hold them liable must be given within 180 days after the employee stops providing services; the employee must first sue the corporation and have an execution returned unsatisfied. It excludes contractors and publicly traded corporations. Owner liability
Limited Liability Company Law § 609(c): The same rule for the ten members holding the largest ownership interests in an LLC, with the same 180-day notice, and reaching a foreign LLC where the unpaid services were performed in New York. It has neither of § 630’s carve-outs. Owner liability

Minimum wage, overtime and deductions: the regulations

12 NYCRR 142-2.1: The minimum wage under the Miscellaneous Industries wage order. For 2026: $17.00 an hour in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester; $16.00 in the rest of the state. Overtime and minimum wage
12 NYCRR 142-2.2: Overtime at one and a half times the regular rate, "in the manner and methods provided in and subject to the exemptions of sections 7 and 13" of the FLSA. Employees exempt under FLSA section 13 who remain New York "employees" still get overtime at one and a half times the state minimum wage. Overtime and minimum wage
12 NYCRR 142-2.14: Who counts as an "employee" under that wage order. Paragraph (c)(5) excludes an "outside salesperson," meaning one "customarily and predominantly engaged away from the premises of the employer and not at any fixed site and location." Paragraph (c)(4) sets the executive and administrative salary floors: for 2026, $1,275.00 a week in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, and $1,199.10 elsewhere. Overtime and minimum wage
12 NYCRR 195-5.1, 195-5.2: Recovering overpayments and advances. An overpayment may be recovered only when it came from a mathematical or clerical error, within eight weeks, with notice and a cap of 12.5% of gross wages. An "advance" means money given "based on the anticipation of the earning of future wages," with no interest or fees; it requires written authorization signed before the money is paid, stating the amount and the repayment schedule, and a dispute procedure. Money that does not meet those requirements "may not be reclaimed through wage deductions." Draws and advances

Federal law

29 U.S.C. § 207(e), (i): The "regular rate" includes "all remuneration for employment," so commissions count. Section 207(i) exempts an employee of a retail or service establishment from overtime where the regular rate exceeds one and a half times the minimum wage and more than half of pay over a representative period of at least a month is commissions. Overtime and minimum wage
29 U.S.C. §§ 216(b), 255(a): Unpaid minimum wage or overtime, plus an equal amount as liquidated damages, attorney’s fees and costs. A collective action is opt-in: no employee is a party without filing written consent. Two years to sue, three for a willful violation. What you can recover
29 U.S.C. § 260: The federal good-faith defense to liquidated damages. A court may reduce or deny them only if the employer shows “that the act or omission giving rise to such action was in good faith and that he had reasonable grounds for believing” it was not a violation. Note the two requirements. New York’s § 198(1-a) is read alongside this provision, and whether its own good-faith clause carries the same objective half is not yet settled. The open question
Labor Law § 590(5), (7): Benefit amounts and the waiting period. § 590(5)(a) sets the maximum weekly benefit amount — $869 until the first Monday of October 2026, then fifty percent of the state average weekly wage each year, never reduced year over year, subject to the trust-fund suspension trigger in § 590(5)(b). § 590(7): a claimant cannot accumulate weeks for payment “until he has accumulated a waiting period of one effective week.” Filing the claim
Labor Law §§ 523, 525: Two definitions that do the work in the dismissal-pay calculation. § 523: an “effective week” is one with no services performed for pay, or part-time work paying less than the benefit rate plus the partial benefit credit. § 525: the “partial benefit credit” is the greater of fifty percent of the individual’s weekly benefit rate or $100, rounded up to the next dollar. Severance and unemployment
Labor Law § 591(6): Dismissal pay. No benefits for a week in the dismissal period where weekly dismissal pay exceeds the maximum weekly benefit rate plus the partial benefit credit. Dismissal pay excludes pension, retirement, accrued leave and health insurance. A lump sum is allocated to weeks from the day after the last day of employment. Subdivision (6)(d): none of this applies if the first payment is made more than thirty days after the last day of employment. Severance and unemployment
Labor Law § 595: Benefit right inalienable. “No agreement by an employee to waive his rights under this article shall be valid.” Benefits cannot be assigned, pledged, encumbered, released or commuted, and that exemption itself cannot be waived. Claims you cannot release
12 NYCRR 473.1, 473.2: Filing and certifying. 473.1(b): a claim is deemed filed as of the first day of unemployment in the statutory week in which it is filed — it does not reach an earlier week. 473.1(g): a late filing may be excused only for good cause, at the Commissioner’s discretion. 473.2: certification is weekly and retrospective, within a seven-day window; missing it forfeits that week absent good cause. Filing the claim
Labor Law §§ 860-a, 860-b, 860-g: New York WARN. Applies to employers with 50 or more employees; triggered by a mass layoff of at least 25 employees amounting to a third of a site, or 250 employees outright. Requires 90 days notice. Damages are back pay plus benefits for the period of violation, capped at 60 days, with a six-year limitations period and fees to a prevailing plaintiff. § 860-g(4)(b) reduces liability only by payments that are “voluntary and unconditional” and not required by any legal obligation. § 860-g(3): WARN payments are not remuneration and never reduce unemployment benefits. The WARN claim
29 C.F.R. §§ 541.500, 541.502: The outside-sales exemption: the primary duty must be making sales, performed "customarily and regularly away from the employer’s place or places of business," with no salary test. Section 541.502 excludes selling by mail, telephone or the Internet unless it is "merely as an adjunct to personal calls," and treats any fixed site used as a headquarters, "whether home or office," as the employer’s place of business. Overtime and minimum wage

Statutes change. This page states the law as of September 2026 and is reviewed when the guide is. Each citation links to the full text: New York statutes at nysenate.gov, federal statutes at uscode.house.gov, federal regulations at ecfr.gov, New York regulations at Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, and the New York City Administrative Code at American Legal Publishing, the City’s official online publisher. The links after each entry go to the part of the guide that uses it.