When you’re hiring within New York, your employee handbook needs to reflect both federal and state-specific employee handbook policies. Did you know that New York and the federal government require 18 different employee handbook policies—and it’s your job to stay abreast of any changes to those laws? Learn about the New York employee handbook requirements.
When you’re building your New York employee handbook, you’re required to include those 18 policies—and you can choose from over 50 more optional policies, as needed.
Employee handbooks describe your company’s policies, including mandated state and federal laws. You can also set your expectations for your employees, provide a framework for conflict resolution, and more. Whether you’re hiring remotely or your entire company is located within New York, it’s your job to stay on top of changes in the law. This protects both your employees as well as the company in general.
“New York employers should take special care to ensure that they are providing meal and rest breaks that comply with state law,” said Connor Christensen, Legal Product Counsel at SixFifty. “Employees who work for at least 6 hours must be provided with a 30 minute noon meal break or a 45 minute evening meal break, depending on the hours they work. If employees work at a factory in New York both noon and even meal breaks must be at least 60 minutes.”
Hiring remotely? Your employee handbook will look different in all 50 states. Plus, you’ll still need to ensure that your policies remain up to date in each state you hire. Researching state-specific employment laws, creating your handbook, and keeping it updated is a major task. It’s time consuming, and lawyers are expensive.
Here’s the good news: SixFifty makes it easy to create and update employee handbooks in all 50 states. Read on to learn about required and optional New York employee handbook policies—then find out how we can do the bulk of the work for you.
Required Federal Employee Handbook Policies
The federal government has enumerated eight major employee handbook policies to include, no matter where your company is located. These policies cover critical worker rights, such as certain types of leave, sexual harassment policies, and anti-discrimination policies.
Fortunately, since they’re the same across all 50 states, you’ll include the same policies in all of your state-specific employee handbooks. However, you’re still obligated to note any changes to federal employment law, and update your handbooks as necessary. (Don’t worry—SixFifty makes that easier than ever!)
Each of the following policies must be included in your employee handbook:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (15+ Employees)
- Employment and Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Policy (50 Employees)
- Jury Duty Leave
- Military Service Leave
- Sexual Harassment Policy
- Lactation Accommodation Policy
- Religious Accommodations Policy
Required New York Employee Handbook Policies
New York requires 18 additional protections for employees, including meal and rest breaks, paid time off, voting leave and more. Note that New York also has jury duty, FMLA, military service and sexual harassment policies of their own. While federal law supersedes state law, states are entitled to elaborate upon those policies and offer additional, state-specific protections.
These policies go further than federal law, and may require you to make adjustments to your overall company policies.
Finally, take note that sick leave and domestic violence leave policies have location-specific additions: if you’re hiring in New York City or Westchester County, you’ll need to choose the appropriate location.
Here are New York’s required policies:
- Airborne Infection Disease Exposure Prevention Plan (NY Hero Act)
- Business Expense Reimbursement
- Crime Victim Leave
- Domestic Violence Leave (including separate policy for Westchester County)
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Family and Medical Leave
- Jury Duty Leave
- Lactation Accommodation Policy
- Meal and Rest Breaks
- Military Service Leave
- Organ and Bone Marrow Donor Leave (20 Employees)
- Paid Family Leave
- Sexual Harassment Policy
- Sick Leave (including separate policy for New York City (5 employees))
- Volunteer Emergency Responders Leave
- Voting Leave
- Whistleblower
- Workweek and Work Schedules Policy
“New York has some specific requirements about what employers must include in their handbooks,” said Christensen. “Handbooks must include a Lactation Accommodation policy and a Notice and Acknowledgment of Electronic Monitoring. If you have a physical location in the state you also need to include your Airborne Infection Disease Exposure Prevention Plan (NY Hero Act) in your handbook. Employers in New York City must also include their sick leave policy.”
Optional New York Employee Handbook Policies
The above 18 policies above are required in every New York employee handbook—but you might want to include other policies, depending on your company’s specific needs.
Not every policy will apply to your company. We recommend picking and choosing optional policies that address your company’s business type, needs and challenges. For example, most businesses include dress codes, at-will employment policies, holiday policies, and wage policies.
Other policies can be included if you need them, or expect to need them in the future. For instance, telecommuting and videoconferencing policies are a smart addition, even if your employees are back in the office full-time.
Here are over 50 optional New York employee handbook policies:
- Affinity Group Policy
- Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy
- Arbitration Policy
- At-Will Employment Policy
- Background Check Policy
- COBRA Policy
- Cell Phone Policy
- Code of Conduct Policy
- Business Expense Policy
- Company Property Policy
- Confidentiality and Trade Secrets Policy
- Desk Hoteling Policy
- Direct Deposit Policy
- Dress Code Policy
- Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy
- Electronic Devices While Driving Policy
- Employee Benefits Policy
- Employee Classification Policy
- Employee Dating Policy
- Employee References Policy
- Employment of Relatives Policy
- Exit Interview Policy
- Gifts Policy
- Health and Safety Policy
- Home Office Reimbursement Policy
- Job Duties Policy
- Key or Access Card Policy
- Holidays
- Immigration Law Compliance
- Leave Policies, including: Bereavement Leave; Witness Duty Leave; School Activity Leave
- Cannabis Policy
- Off-Duty Use of Facilities
- Outside Employment Policy
- Overtime Policy
- Paid Time Off
- Pay Transparency Policy
- Payment of Wages Policy
- Payroll Deductions Policy
- Performance Review Policy
- Personnel Files Policy
- Pets in the Workplace Policy
- Progressive Discipline Policy
- Public Relations Policy
- Punctuality and Attendance Policy
- Record Retention Policy
- Remote Working Policy
- Salary Pay Policy
- Smoking Policy
- Social Media Policy
- Solicitation and Distribution of Literature Policy
- Technology Systems Policy
- Temporary Relocation Policy
- Timekeeping Policy
- Video Conferencing Policy
- Weapons in the Workplace
- Workers’ Compensation Policy
- Workplace Violence Policy
- Workplace Visitor Policy
SixFifty Helps Employers Meet New York Employee Handbook Requirements
Researching and creating state-specific employee handbooks is a big task. Plus, every time state or federal employment laws change, your employee handbook needs to be updated. SixFifty’s goal is to make this faster, easier and more affordable than ever.
Our technology saves you time and money. Just answer a few questions about your company, download the generated handbook, and have your lawyers review and approve. Worried about staying on top of new legal developments? Not to worry: we’ll let you know when state or federal laws change. Your company will stay protected in all 50 states, all the time.
We’ve combined the convenience of automation with real legal expertise. With our proprietary legal software, you can automatically generate and update your New York state employee handbook in just a few clicks with our employee handbook creator tool.
Questions? Want to see how it works? Schedule a free demo with SixFifty today! Looking to create an employee handbook for a different state beyond New York? View our interactive map for required employee handbook policies by state.
