Am I supposed to be paid spread of hours?

Hi, I’m Innessa Huot and I’m an employment attorney.

Spread of hours pay is a New York State-specific law that applies to employees in the service industry, such as hotels and restaurants, regardless of how much they make per hour. It also applies to certain employees in other industries if they make the minimum wage. So, what this law requires is that these workers be paid an extra hour worth of minimum wage if the beginning and end of their work day is more than 10 hours apart.

Now, this includes breaks and even off duty work. The reason for this law is because even if you have hours in between your shifts, it’s uncommon for workers to be able to go home or even just relax. So this spread of hours pay is meant to compensate them for this additional time that they put into their work.

If you have questions about whether you should be paid spread of hours or you have other questions about how you’re supposed to be paid, give us a call and we’ll go over the specific laws that apply to the city and state in which you live in. Thank you so much for watching.