NYSDOL Issues Guidance on Healthy Terminals Act Amendments Effective January 1, 2026

In September, we published an article outlining amendments to New York’s Healthy Terminals Act (HTA). The amended HTA revises certain wage, health and welfare, and leave entitlements for covered workers at JFK and LaGuardia Airports. The amendments were included as part of New York State’s budget for the 2026 fiscal year. On December 22, 2025, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) issued implementation guidance on its website, including FAQs that provide some guidance on coverage, wage and benefit requirements, and compliance obligations. 

The NYSDOL’s guidance clarifies some ambiguities and open questions that originated from the HTA amendments, and outlines steps employers may wish to take now that the amendments have taken effect as of January 1, 2026. Despite the recent guidance, some ambiguities remain. For example, the NYSDOL emphasizes that the minimum wage rates and leave requirements the HTA requires covered employers to provide their employees are subject to change based on the federal determinations on which the state commissioner of labor’s designations are based. 

Notably, the NYSDOL issued its guidance by posting information on its website and the NYSDOL has not proposed any formal rulemaking as of this writing. Accordingly, the information the NYSDOL posted on its website should be considered as helpful interpretive guidance, but it may not have the force of law or regulation. 

HTA Coverage

The updated NYSDOL guidance includes general guidance on the applicability of the amended HTA, as follows:

• Covered airport locations. NYSDOL reiterates that the amended HTA provides coverage to certain employees who perform work at JFK and LGA airports, and at certain off-airport locations. Specifically, NYSDOL states that covered airport locations include locations from which food to be consumed on airplanes departing from JFK or LGA is prepared or delivered.
• Covered airport workers. NYSDOL’s guidance frames the coverage threshold as a weekly time-based test: starting January 1, 2026, the law will apply to anyone who works at least 50% of their time during any work week at a covered airport location. As a practical matter, employers should anticipate that fluctuating schedules, split assignments between covered and non-covered locations, and multi-role employees will require careful time allocation and documentation to determine when the 50% threshold is met in a given week.
• Employer Coverage. NYSDOL’s guidance confirms that employers with 10 or fewer employees are exempt from the amended HTA’s wage, benefit, and paid leave designation requirements, while employers with 11 or more employees must comply with the HTA’s updated requirements. The guidance does not address how headcount should be calculated (for example, whether affiliated entities are aggregated, how to treat temporary staffing, or otherwise advise how to count employees). 

HTA Base Wage Requirement

The amended HTA requires covered employers to pay at least the applicable standard rate that is designated by the commissioner of labor of the NYSDOL, who in turn will base the minimum wage rate upon the federal Service Contract Act (SCA) determinations for the relevant localities and classifications. NYSDOL’s guidance advises that for each relevant classification, the wage paid to the employee cannot be lower than (a) the wage rate designated by the commissioner based on SCA determinations or (b) the minimum wage established by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is currently set at $21.25 beginning January 1, 2026. 

What the guidance does not do is identify the specific SCA wage classifications that employers should use to determine the appropriate wage rates for job positions and classifications that are not included in the SCA wage classification schedules. Instead, the guidance points employers generally to the SCA framework and advises that the most up-to-date rate information will be available through federal SCA resources. 

HTA Health and Welfare Benefit Requirements

In addition to base wages, the amended HTA contemplates a supplemental obligation that parallels the SCA health and welfare fringe benefit requirements. NYSDOL’s guidance explains that the supplemental contribution to health care or supplemental wages cannot be less than the SCA health and welfare rate in effect on the date of the commissioner’s designation, which is based on federal SCA determinations. NYSDOL’s guidance expressly notes that the rate as of December 3, 2025, is $5.55 per hour, for up to 40 hours per week.

Unfortunately, this guidance leaves a number of questions unanswered as NYSDOL does not address whether employers may satisfy the $5.55 per hour supplemental obligation through existing benefit offerings (for example, how health insurance premiums, employer HSA contributions, dental/vision, life insurance, or other qualifying benefits will be valued and credited), whether cash-in-lieu payments are permitted and under what conditions employers should handle workers whose hours fluctuate above and below 40 hours in a week. 

Unlike guidance under the prior HTA, which explained that employees who waived or declined compliant health insurance were not required to receive additional compensation, NYSDOL’s guidance on the amended HTA does not address this point. NYSDOL’s guidance on the prior HTA no longer appears on NYSDOL’s website, giving rise to a number of questions as to whether such prior guidance remains in effect.

NYSDOL’s guidance advises that the paid leave requirements under the amended HTA that are designated by the commissioner are based on requirements under the SCA framework. As of December 3, 2025, NYSDOL indicates that employers must provide covered airport workers at least 12 paid holidays and paid vacation based on years of work.

NYSDOL identifies the 12 paid holidays as: 

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday
• Washington’s Birthday
• Good Friday
• Memorial Day
• Juneteenth
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Veterans’ Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

NYSDOL explains that employers may substitute any of these holidays for another day off with pay in accordance with a plan communicated to employees, and that paid holidays must be provided regardless of the employee’s length of service.

For vacation, NYSDOL provides a tenure-based schedule measured in weeks per year: 

• Two weeks after one year of employment;
• Three weeks after five years;
• Four weeks after 10 years; and
• Five weeks after 20 years.

NYSDOL also states that covered airport workers earn the full amount of owed vacation on their anniversary date. As with wages and supplemental benefits, NYSDOL emphasizes that paid leave requirements are subject to change based on federal determinations. 

The guidance still leaves a number of questions unanswered, including how to calculate holiday pay for employees with variable schedules; whether and how to pro-rate vacation for part-time workers; what happens when employees move in and out of covered work based on the 50% weekly test; and how the HTA’s vacation and holiday requirements interact with other leave laws and existing collective bargaining agreements. 

Posting Requirement

NYSDOL also signals that employers covered by the HTA must display a poster summarizing the Act beginning January 1, 2026. The NYSDOL poster, which is available at NYSDOL’s website, contains QR codes that link to the SAM.gov site containing the SCA schedule, as well as the Port Authority Minimum Wage webpage. 

Enforcement

Unlike NYSDOL’s guidance under the prior HTA, NYSDOL did not offer any clarity on whether it would strictly enforce the requirements of the HTA immediately, or if a reasonable period will be afforded to covered employers to comply with the requirements of the HTA. Guidance under the prior HTA advised that NYSDOL was “exercising enforcement discretion at the present time to allow businesses a reasonable period to make operational adjustments, and will consider a range of factors, including whether covered airport workers are receiving hourly supplements sufficient to provide adequate health care coverage.” As of this writing, this guidance is no longer on NYSDOL’s website, and it is unclear if it remains applicable under the amended HTA, and what NYSDOL’s enforcement stance will be.

Next Steps

Employers with employees working at JFK or LaGuardia Airports should review the updated NYSDOL guidance. However, the guidance does not appear to provide an opportunity to submit questions or confirm rate applicability with NYSDOL. In light of these ambiguities, we recommend that covered and potentially covered employers consult with employment counsel regarding implementation. Littler will continue to monitor this issue for updates.