New York hospitality · first punch to last punch
Six hours on the floor can still be a fifteen-hour spread
12 NYCRR § 146-1.6 does not ask how many hours you worked. It asks how long the workday lasted. Spread is the interval from the beginning to the end of the workday — working time, plus meals, plus every interval off duty. On each day that interval exceeds ten hours, a restaurant or all-year hotel owes one extra hour at the basic minimum wage, not at the cook’s regular rate, and not as overtime. The Department of Labor’s own examples are the ones in the presets.
The wage order’s examples, run as punches
7:00–10:00 and 19:00–22:00 → 6 hours worked, 15-hour spread → premium
11:30–15:00 and 16:00–22:00 → 9.5 hours worked, 10.5-hour spread → premium
08:00–18:00 → 10 hours worked, 10-hour spread → no premium
08:00–18:01 → 10 hours 1 minute → premium
Load the 7 a.m. / 7 p.m. split at $20 with the NYC $17 minimum: six hours of wages are $120, the spread line is $17, total $137. The $20 rate never touches the premium. A $40 sous-chef on the same punches still collects $17 (or $16 upstate). The section applies to all employees in restaurants and all-year hotels, regardless of regular rate of pay.
The additional hour is not a payment for time worked and need not be included in the regular rate for overtime. This page therefore never folds the spread dollar into FLSA overtime minutes. If the week itself goes past 40 hours worked, leftover regular hours convert to federal weekly overtime on a separate line.
New York minimum wage as of 1 January 2026 (Department of Labor): $17.00 in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester; $16.00 in the remainder of the state. Pick the region on the punch panel.
In scope
- Hospitality spread: first in → last out, lunch and gaps in
- Premium only when spread exceeds 10 hours (not equal to 10)
- One hour at 2026 basic min. wage, not the regular rate
- FLSA weekly 40 on hours worked, spread excluded from the regular rate
Out of scope
- 12 NYCRR 142-2.4 miscellaneous offset
- Tip credit / cash wage on the spread hour (this page pays full basic min. wage)
- Resort hotels and non-hospitality occupations
- Meal/lodging credits against the extra hour (the order forbids the offset)
FAQ
What is spread of hours under 12 NYCRR 146-1.6?
The spread of hours is the length of the interval between the beginning and end of an employee’s workday. It includes working time plus time off for meals plus intervals off duty. Official examples: 7 a.m.–10 a.m. and 7 p.m.–10 p.m. is 6 hours worked but a 15-hour spread; 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m. and 4 p.m.–10 p.m. is 9.5 hours worked but a 10.5-hour spread.
How much is the extra hour in 2026?
On each day the spread exceeds 10 hours, the employee receives one additional hour of pay at the basic minimum hourly rate. As of 1 January 2026 that rate is $17.00 in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, and $16.00 in the rest of the state. It is not paid at the employee’s regular rate and it is not overtime.
Does exactly 10 hours of spread trigger the premium?
No. The wage order pays the extra hour on each day on which the spread of hours exceeds 10. Ten hours even is no premium. Ten hours and one minute is a premium.
Does this page apply the miscellaneous-industry offset in 142-2.4?
No. 12 NYCRR 142-2.4 is out of scope. This calculator is the hospitality rule, which applies to employees in restaurants and all-year hotels regardless of a given employee’s regular rate of pay. The extra hour is not a payment for time worked and need not be included in the regular rate for overtime.
