New York Day of Rest Law

According to the New York Department of Labor, the One Day Rest in Seven law (also known as the New York Day of Rest law) requires New York employers to allow a minimum of 24 consecutive hours of rest for employees in any occupation involving factory, mercantile establishment, hotel, restaurant, freight or passenger elevator work, as well as for janitors, superintendents, supervisors, and managers and watchmen in warehouses, storage houses, offices, dwellings, apartments, lofts and other buildings and structures.  The rest period also applies to motion picture operators or projectionists, movie house engineers, firemen, and employees of legitimate stage productions.

Exceptions apply to the following: motion picture or stage productions regularly given throughout the week (except for engineers and firefighters); foremen; dairy product companies with less than seven employees; necessarily continuous industrial or manufacturing processes; employees who are necessarily employed on Sunday for not more than 3 hours; resort or seasonal hotel or restaurant employees in communities of less than 15,000 people; and employees in dry dock plants engaged in ship making or repairing.

For employees required to work on Sundays, the employer must designate a different day of rest, consisting of at least twenty-four consecutive hours of rest in each and every calendar week for each employee, and must inform each employee in advance which day will be their designated day of rest. No employee shall be permitted to work on his designated day of rest.

Variances can be granted for certain circumstances regarding this law. For more information, contact your District Office of the NY Dept. of Labor.