Wage theft and workplace mistreatment in New York — how to document it

Published July 20, 2026 · reviewed September 28, 2026

The short answer

Some occupations are exempt from overtime under federal law and still get it under New York law. For those jobs overtime is paid at one and a half times the state minimum wage, not the worker's own rate — so “exempt” federally does not settle it.

If your pay or the way you're treated at work feels off, the most useful first move is to record it as it happens. Wage theft and mistreatment take many forms. Hourly and salaried employees may not be paid for all their time. Gig workers and contractors may find promised earnings missing or short. Commission-based workers may see pay miscalculated. It can also mean breaks you didn't get, work done before or after your recorded hours, or being punished after you raised a concern.

In New York, workers have broad protections covering minimum pay, overtime, meal breaks, and the right to be paid for all hours worked, along with protections against retaliation for speaking up. New York's minimum wage also varies by region, and the current figures change over time — so this page keeps them in one clearly-marked box below and points you to the official sources rather than stating them as fact here.

rippedoffworker is not a law firm and won't predict the outcome of your situation. What it does is help you record the hours, the pay, and the treatment, so a pattern becomes visible over time. A dated, organized record is something you can take to a state labor agency, a legal aid service, or a lawyer — the people who can act on it.

State specifics — verify at the source

These figures and rules change. Confirm the current details at the official links before relying on them.

Minimum wage
According to the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), whose minimum-wage table is headed “Minimum Wage as of 01/01/2026”, the rate is $17.00 per hour in New York City and in Long Island & Westchester, and $16.00 in the “Remainder of New York State”. Hospitality employers may take a tip credit: tipped food service workers have a cash wage of $11.35 (NYC, Long Island & Westchester) or $10.70 elsewhere, and tipped service employees $14.15 or $13.30. NYSDOL adds that “Starting in 2027, the minimum wage will be tied to inflation”. Verify the figure for your region and industry at the NYSDOL.
Checked September 28, 2026.
Overtime
According to NYSDOL's Overtime FAQ, “The New York State Minimum Wage Orders contain the State's overtime requirements… Most employees must receive overtime pay at the rate of 1½ times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Certain residential employees must receive overtime pay at the rate of 1 ½ times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 44 in a workweek.” It adds that some occupations exempt from overtime under the federal FLSA are still entitled to it under New York law, at “an overtime rate of 1½ times the state minimum wage for their overtime hours, regardless of the amount of their regular rate of pay”. Confirm the current rules at the NYSDOL.
Checked September 28, 2026.
Meal & rest breaks
New York Labor Law §162 sets meal periods by the kind of workplace: “Every person employed in or in connection with a factory shall be allowed at least sixty minutes for the noon day meal”, while a person in “a mercantile or other establishment or occupation” gets “at least thirty minutes”, the noon day meal period “extending from eleven o'clock in the morning to two o'clock” in the afternoon. A shift starting before 11am and continuing later than 7pm gets “an additional meal period of at least twenty minutes between five and seven o'clock in the evening”, and a shift of more than six hours starting between 1pm and 6am gets sixty minutes (factory) or forty-five minutes (mercantile or other). §161 separately requires “at least twenty-four consecutive hours of rest in any calendar week” for people employed in a factory, mercantile establishment, hotel, restaurant or elevator. Confirm the current rules at the NYSDOL.
Checked September 28, 2026.
Final paycheck
New York Labor Law §191(3) says: “If employment is terminated, the employer shall pay the wages not later than the regular pay day for the pay period during which the termination occurred… If requested by the employee, such wages shall be paid by mail.” Confirm at the NYSDOL.
Checked September 28, 2026.
Wage-claim filing deadline
New York Labor Law §198(3) says: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action to recover upon a liability imposed by this article must be commenced within six years. The statute of limitations shall be tolled from the date an employee files a complaint with the commissioner or the commissioner commences an investigation, whichever is earlier, until an order to comply issued by the commissioner becomes final…” For federal claims, the U.S. Department of Labor's Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act, read on September 18, 2026, says: “Generally, a 2-year statute of limitations applies to the recovery of back wages and liquidated damages. A 3-year statute of limitations applies in cases involving willful violations.” Confirm the deadline for your own claim at the NYSDOL.
Checked September 28, 2026.
Where to file / who enforces
The New York State Department of Labor handles wage claims and minimum-wage/overtime complaints. File or check details at the NYSDOL.
Checked July 2026.
Agency: New York State Department of Labor, Division of Labor Standards
Where to file: https://dol.ny.gov/unpaidwithheld-wages-and-wage-supplements
Read at New York State Department of Labor, Unpaid/Withheld Wages and Wage Supplements
Checked September 18, 2026.

Official New York source (overtime): NYSDOL — Overtime Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)

New York statute (meals and day of rest): N.Y. Labor Law §162 (time allowed for meals) and §161 (one day rest in seven)

New York statute (final pay): N.Y. Labor Law §191 — Frequency of payments

New York statute (filing deadline): N.Y. Labor Law §198 — Costs, remedies

Official New York source: New York State Department of Labor

Federal backstop: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division

If you file a complaint

What the agency’s own pages say, quoted, with the page each came from. Where a page says nothing, that is what is written here — a fact about the page, not about the law.

Is the employer told who complained?

The New York State Department of Labor’s page “Unpaid/Withheld Wages and Wage Supplements”, read September 18, 2026, does not state whether the name of the person who complained is given to the employer.

Unpaid/Withheld Wages and Wage Supplements

Checked September 18, 2026.

Can a complaint be filed anonymously?

The New York State Department of Labor’s page “Unpaid/Withheld Wages and Wage Supplements”, read September 18, 2026, does not state whether a complaint can be filed anonymously.

Unpaid/Withheld Wages and Wage Supplements

Checked September 18, 2026.

Is retaliation for complaining prohibited?

The New York State Department of Labor’s page “Unpaid/Withheld Wages and Wage Supplements”, read September 18, 2026, does not state whether retaliation for complaining is prohibited.

Unpaid/Withheld Wages and Wage Supplements

Under “Non-Wage Items:”, the page lists:

“Your employer failed to provide the required meal period, day of rest, pay stub, notice of pay, timely payment of wages, or took a negative action against you for making a complaint related to the Labor Law.”

— New York State Department of Labor, Unpaid/Withheld Wages and Wage Supplements

Checked September 18, 2026.

What’s different here

Rules that apply here and not in most other states. Each one carries the date it was last checked, and comes off this page rather than going stale.

Some jobs with no federal overtime right still get overtime here
Some occupations are exempt from overtime under federal law and still get it under New York law. For those jobs overtime is paid at one and a half times the state minimum wage, not the worker's own rate — so “exempt” federally does not settle it.
NYSDOL's Overtime FAQ says: “Some occupations are exempt from overtime under the federal FLSA, but are still entitled to overtime under the New York State Labor Law. While these occupations must be paid overtime, New York State Labor Law requires an overtime rate of 1½ times the state minimum wage for their overtime hours, regardless of the amount of their regular rate of pay.” The same FAQ sets the ordinary rule at 1½ times your own regular rate over 40 hours a week, and 44 hours for certain residential employees who live in the employer's home.
State agency: New York State Department of Labor — Overtime Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
Checked September 28, 2026.

If you are paid commission

New York requires your terms to be in writing, signed by both of you.

Labor Law §191(1)(c) says the agreed terms must be written down, signed by both parties, and kept by your employer for at least three years. The writing should describe how everything is calculated — wages, salary, any drawing account, commissions — and, if there’s a recoverable draw, how often it is reconciled, plus what happens on termination.

There is also a presumption in your favor if your employer can’t produce the writing, but read it carefully: the statute ties that to a request from the labor commissioner, not to a claim you bring yourself.

The section doesn’t cover roles that are mainly supervisory, managerial, executive or administrative.

Read the source

Checked August 2026. This tells you what to go and read. It does not decide anything about your situation.

Is it legal?

The Break Room answers the question behind a block above from the regulation or fact sheet itself, quoted, with a link to the page the words were read from.

Is it legal for my employer to pay commission with no written plan?
It is decided state by state. California’s statute requires the contract in writing, requires it to say how commissions are computed, and requires a signed copy to be handed over.

What you can do

1
Write down your job basics
Employer or platform, your role, your agreed rate or commission terms, and how you're classified.
2
Log every shift or job as it happens
Start time, end time, and any break taken or missed.
3
Note off-the-clock work
Tasks before clocking in, after clocking out, or during unpaid time.
4
Record each payment and compare it to what you expected
Flag anything missing or short.
5
For gig and commission work, save the details
The job details, the promised amount, and what actually arrived.
6
Keep your paperwork together
Copies of pay stubs, contracts, messages, schedules, and screenshots.
7
Write down mistreatment or retaliation
The date, what happened, and who witnessed it.
8
Note your region and store it safely
Note which region of New York you work in, since some rates vary by location — then store everything where the employer cannot alter it.

Where the exact rules matter: the specifics — figures, thresholds, deadlines, and which rules apply — vary by state and by your situation. Check them with the U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov) or your state labor department rather than relying on a number from anywhere else.

In plain terms

Wage theft: When you aren't paid all the money you earned — unpaid hours, unpaid overtime, missing pay, or illegal deductions.
Off-the-clock work: Work that isn't counted or paid, such as tasks before or after your recorded shift.
Overtime: Extra pay owed for working beyond a set number of hours. The exact rules are in the box above.
Retaliation: When an employer punishes you for raising a concern or reporting a problem.
Misclassification: Being labeled a contractor when the law may treat the worker as an employee — a difference that changes which pay rules apply.
Spread of hours: A New York rule that can owe extra pay when your workday is stretched across a long span.

Where rippedoffworker comes in

The guide tells you what to do — the app does it with you.

rippedoffworker helps workers of every kind — hourly, salaried, gig and contractor, and commission-based — log the hours, pay, and treatment as they happen. It builds a dated record over time: unpaid or underpaid wages, missing gig or commission earnings, missed breaks, off-the-clock work, and mistreatment or retaliation — soyour own figures and the pattern behind it are organized in one place, ready to take to the people who can help.

Try the demo Start my record

rippedoffworker is a record-keeping tool, not a law firm, and does not give legal advice. Any amounts are arithmetic on the figures you entered — apparent, not a guaranteed or legally determined amount.