New York Governor Signs Construction Reporting Pay Act

Seyfarth Synopsis: Governor Kathy Hochul has signed legislation creating new reporting pay and shift-cancellation pay requirements for construction employers in New York. Beginning December 8, 2026, covered construction employees generally must receive up to four hours of pay when they report for work but are not provided work, and two hours of pay when a scheduled shift is canceled with less than 12 hours' notice. The law also establishes separate requirements for certain prevailing wage construction projects and reflects a broader New York trend toward requiring compensation for last-minute scheduling changes.

On September 9, 2026, Governor Hochul signed The Construction Reporting Pay Act (A6950/S9843) as Chapter 291 of the Laws of 2026. The legislation adds Sections 196-e and 224-g to the New York Labor Law and creates new reporting-pay and scheduling-pay obligations for construction employers operating in New York. The law takes effect on December 8, 2026.

The legislation is intended to provide construction employees with greater scheduling predictability and reliability while reducing the economic impact of last-minute cancellations and work stoppages. As a result, construction employers may be required to compensate employees even when little or no productive work is ultimately performed.

Four Provisions Employers Should Keep in Mind

1. Covered Construction Employees Generally Must Receive Up to Four Hours of Reporting Pay

New Labor Law Section 196-e generally provides that a construction employee who reports for work at the employer's request or permission must be paid for at least four hours or the employee's regularly scheduled shift, whichever is less, at the employee's promised hourly rate.

Accordingly, if an employee reports to a jobsite and is subsequently informed that no work is available, the employer may nevertheless be required to provide compensation. This represents a significant departure from the practical reality faced by many construction employers whose staffing needs often fluctuate based on weather, inspections, deliveries, permits, and site conditions.

2. Prevailing Wage Projects Are Subject to Separate Requirements

The Act separately addresses construction projects covered by New York's prevailing wage laws.  For covered prevailing wage projects, Labor Law Section 224-g generally requires that a laborer, worker, or mechanic who reports for work be paid at least four hours at the applicable prevailing wage rate, including supplements, for the employee's regularly scheduled classification of work. The statute further provides that amounts owed under the provision are deemed prevailing wages or supplements.

Importantly, the statute establishes a floor, not a ceiling. The law does not apply where an applicable prevailing wage schedule already provides reporting-pay wages or benefits greater than those required by the Act. Contractors performing public work and other prevailing wage projects should therefore carefully review applicable classifications, wage schedules, supplements, and collectively bargained requirements when evaluating compliance obligations.

3. New York Continues to Expand Scheduling-Pay Requirements

The Act also creates scheduling-pay obligations when work is canceled with little advance notice.  Under Section 196-e, a construction employee who is scheduled to report to work generally must receive two hours of pay when the employer cancels the shift with less than twelve hours' notice. Likewise, for covered prevailing wage projects, Section 224-g generally requires payment of two hours at the applicable prevailing wage rate, including supplements, when a scheduled shift is canceled on less than twelve hours' notice.

Although reporting-pay obligations are not new under New York law, the Construction Reporting Pay Act represents another example of lawmakers imposing compensation requirements tied to scheduling decisions rather than hours actually worked. Employers familiar with New York City's Fair Workweek Law applicable to covered retail and fast food employers may recognize the underlying policy objective: providing employees with greater predictability and compensation when employers make last-minute scheduling changes. The Legislature expressly found that construction employees are entitled to greater scheduling reliability and predictability and that predictable scheduling promotes a more harmonious and safer workplace.

The legislative history further reflects lawmakers' concern that existing New York reporting-pay regulations did not adequately protect construction workers from the economic impact of last-minute cancellations. In particular, legislators noted that construction employers could often avoid significant costs by paying only the minimum-wage reporting pay required under existing regulations, even where employees had reported to work expecting to earn substantially higher prevailing wage or collectively bargained rates. The Act is intended to address those concerns by requiring construction employees who report to a jobsite but are sent home to receive reporting pay at their applicable negotiated or prevailing wage rate and by creating separate compensation obligations when scheduled work is canceled on short notice.

While the Act was enacted with construction-specific concerns in mind, it reflects a broader trend in New York toward regulating scheduling practices and requiring compensation when employers make substantial scheduling changes on short notice.

4. Reporting Pay Obligations May Create Broader Wage-and-Hour Exposure

The law expressly provides that amounts owed under Section 196-e constitute wages. Employers therefore should treat reporting-pay compliance as part of their overall New York wage-and-hour compliance strategy.

As with other wage-payment obligations, failure to properly compensate employees could lead to claims extending beyond the underlying reporting-pay amount itself. Construction employers should not view these obligations as merely administrative payroll adjustments, particularly given New York's employee-friendly wage-and-hour enforcement framework.

Next Steps for Employers

Before December 8, 2026, construction employers should review their scheduling, payroll, and recordkeeping practices to ensure they can identify when reporting-pay or scheduling-pay obligations arise and accurately document compliance. In particular, employers should evaluate:

• how employees are scheduled and notified of cancellations;
• who has authority to cancel shifts and how those decisions are documented;
• whether payroll systems can properly track and pay reporting-pay and cancellation-pay obligations;
• whether prevailing wage classifications and supplements have been correctly mapped for covered projects; and
• whether project managers, superintendents, dispatchers, forepersons, and payroll personnel understand the new requirements.

As with many wage-and-hour obligations, compliance may depend as much on an employer's ability to document scheduling decisions and notice practices as on the underlying payments themselves. For many employers, the most significant operational challenge may be creating a reliable process for documenting when cancellation decisions are made and when affected employees receive notice.

Please reach out to the author, or your Seyfarth attorney, with any questions.