New York HR Compliance Questionnaire

New York HR & Benefits Compliance Questionnaire

This questionnaire helps assess your organization's compliance with key New York State and New York City employment, benefits and HR laws. Select “Yes,” “No,” or “Not Applicable (N/A)” for each item. A summary score will be provided at the end. This tool is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.

Company Profile (not scored)

1. Number of employees (approximate):

2. Primary location(s) of employees: New York City (including Long Island & Westchester) Rest of New York State

3. Do you employ retail workers (10+ retail employees in NY)? Yes No

4. Do you operate a hospital or nursing home? Yes No

Wage & Hour Compliance

1. Are all non‑exempt employees paid at least the applicable 2026 New York minimum wage ($17/hour in NYC/Long Island/Westchester; $16/hour elsewhere)?

Yes No N/A

2. Do you review executive and administrative employees’ duties and salaries to ensure they meet New York’s 2026 salary threshold for overtime exemption ($1,275/week in NYC/LI/Westchester; $1,199.10/week elsewhere)?

Yes No N/A

3. Are manual workers paid weekly and other non‑exempt employees paid at least semi‑monthly as required by NY Labor Law Section 191?

Yes No N/A

4. Do you properly calculate overtime for all non‑exempt employees at 1.5× their regular rate after 40 hours/week and follow spread‑of‑hours and split‑shift rules?

Yes No N/A

5. If applicable, do you comply with tip credit requirements (proper cash wage/tip credit amounts and 80/20 rule)?

Yes No N/A

6. Do you provide wage notices and maintain payroll records in compliance with the Wage Theft Prevention Act?

Yes No N/A

7. Do you include salary ranges and job descriptions in all job postings and disclose commission‑based positions as required by New York’s pay transparency law?

Yes No N/A

8. Do you refrain from asking applicants or employees for salary history or relying on it to set pay (Salary History Ban)?

Yes No N/A

9. Do you monitor pay practices to ensure equal pay for substantially similar work regardless of protected class (Pay Equity law)?

Yes No N/A

Benefits & Insurance

1. Do you carry mandatory insurance coverage (workers’ compensation, disability benefits, Paid Family Leave and unemployment insurance) for all covered employees?

Yes No N/A

2. Are you providing statutory disability benefits (50% of average weekly wage up to $170 per week) and deducting employee contributions within permitted limits?

Yes No N/A

3. Have you obtained Paid Family Leave (PFL) coverage, posted the notice of compliance, informed employees of benefits, and collected employee contributions?

Yes No N/A

4. Do you identify employees who qualify for a PFL waiver and collect signed waiver forms?

Yes No N/A

5. Do you maintain unemployment insurance coverage and pay contributions when required (e.g., after paying $300+ in wages in a quarter)?

Yes No N/A

6. If you have no qualified retirement plan, are you registered (or preparing to register) with the New York Secure Choice Savings Program by the 2026 deadline?

Yes No N/A

7. Do you offer a qualified employer-sponsored retirement plan that exempts you from Secure Choice requirements?

Yes No N/A

8. Do you audit benefits enrollments and carrier feeds to ensure that employees’ elections are properly processed and contributions are accurate?

Yes No N/A

Leave & Time Off

1. Does your leave policy provide the required amount of paid sick leave based on employer size (40 or 56 hours) or unpaid leave where applicable?

Yes No N/A

2. For NYC employers, do you provide 32 hours of unpaid safe/sick leave and 20 hours of paid prenatal leave each year, separate from other leave banks?

Yes No N/A

3. Do you allow employees to use safe/sick leave for expanded reasons, such as caregiving, public disasters, workplace violence, and legal proceedings related to subsistence or housing benefits?

Yes No N/A

4. Do you provide employees with New York’s Paid Prenatal Leave (20 hours per year for prenatal health care) separate from sick leave?

Yes No N/A

5. Do you provide the required meal period (30‑minute lunch for shifts over 6 hours spanning 11 a.m.‑2 p.m.) and pay employees for short breaks up to 20 minutes?

Yes No N/A

6. Do you provide other state-required leave (voting leave, domestic violence or crime victim leave, volunteer emergency responder leave, organ/bone marrow donor leave, etc.)?

Yes No N/A

7. Do you have procedures to document leave requests, respond to PFL/FMLA requests, and maintain job protection and continuation of health insurance during leave?

Yes No N/A

Anti‑Discrimination, Harassment & Equal Employment

1. Have you adopted New York’s model sexual harassment prevention policy and provided annual interactive training to all employees?

Yes No N/A

2. Do your policies include equal employment opportunity statements covering protected classes and prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy and other statuses?

Yes No N/A

3. Does your employee handbook include a notice of employees’ reproductive health decision-making rights and remedies as required by Labor Law § 203‑e?

Yes No N/A

4. Do you regularly review hiring, promotion, evaluation and scheduling policies to ensure they do not create disparate impact discrimination and document business necessity where appropriate?

Yes No N/A

5. Do you have a process to investigate and address complaints of discrimination, harassment and retaliation and prohibit retaliation against employees exercising legal rights?

Yes No N/A

6. Do you conduct regular pay equity analyses to identify and correct wage disparities and comply with pay transparency and equal pay laws?

Yes No N/A

Workplace Safety & Postings

1. Have you adopted a written Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan under the NY HERO Act and trained employees on its contents?

Yes No N/A

2. If you employ 10 or more retail workers, have you implemented the Retail Worker Safety Act by establishing a workplace violence prevention policy, training employees as required and distributing the policy annually?

Yes No N/A

3. Do you display all required federal and New York labor law posters (minimum wage, PFL, disability benefits, workers’ compensation, whistleblower protection, veterans’ benefits, etc.) in a conspicuous location accessible to employees?

Yes No N/A

4. If you operate a hospital or nursing home, have you implemented a workplace violence prevention program and, for hospitals, ensured the emergency department has a security officer as required (effective Sept 18 2026)?

Yes No N/A

Other Compliance Areas

1. Do you avoid requesting or using consumer credit history for employment decisions except where legally required (credit check restrictions effective Apr 18 2026)?

Yes No N/A

2. Do you refrain from using training repayment or “stay‑or‑pay” clauses in employment contracts (Trapped at Work Act)?

Yes No N/A

3. Do you provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy‑related conditions (modified duties, rest breaks, leave) and allow breaks and a private space for nursing mothers to express breast milk for up to three years after childbirth?

Yes No N/A

4. Do you maintain clear records of paid prenatal leave usage and other leave balances, and avoid requesting confidential health information when employees request prenatal leave?

Yes No N/A

5. Do you classify workers properly (employee vs. independent contractor) and periodically review independent contractor relationships to comply with New York’s classification rules?

Yes No N/A