New York Construction Reporting Pay Act Takes Effect December 8

NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, September 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Gorayeb & Associates breaks down what Chapter 291 of the Laws of 2026 requires on public and private jobs, when the clock starts, and why the legislature tied unpredictable scheduling to unsafe sites.

A New York construction worker whose shift is cancelled on less than twelve hours’ notice must be paid for two hours, and a worker who reports to a job at the employer’s request must be paid for at least four, under the Construction Reporting Pay Act that Governor Kathy Hochul signed September 9 as Chapter 291 of the Laws of 2026, state legislative records show. Gorayeb & Associates, P.C., the New York construction accident firm known as The People’s Lawyers, is issuing this advisory because the requirements take effect December 8 and enforcement will begin with workers who know what they are owed.

The act adds two sections to the state Labor Law. Public projects paying prevailing wages under Section 220 and related statutes owe reporting pay at the full prevailing rate including supplements, unless the posted wage schedule already promises more. Every other construction job owes a worker who shows up at least four hours, or the length of the scheduled shift if it is shorter, at the wage the worker was promised, and a cancellation inside the twelve hour window still costs the employer two hours of that wage.

Before this act, reporting pay in New York meant four hours at minimum wage, the Governor’s office noted, a fraction of what a tradesman actually earns. State senators passed the measure 50 to 10, and the legislation’s own findings declare that reliable, predictable scheduling produces a better and safer working environment, language an injury firm reads with particular interest.

“A man pays for the train, pays for childcare, shows up at six and gets waved off at the gate,” said Christopher J. Gorayeb, founding partner of Gorayeb & Associates. “For years the industry priced his whole morning at minimum wage. The contractors who treat a schedule that way tend to treat a scaffold the same way.”

That connection is not rhetorical. Chaotic scheduling, cost shifting, and thin supervision travel together, and the same records that prove a reporting pay claim, texts from the foreman, crew rosters, daily logs, are the ones that reconstruct how a site was run after somebody is hurt on it. A worker who saves them is protecting more than one kind of case.

“Save the message that told you to come in and the one that cancelled on you,” Gorayeb said. “Starting December 8, those messages are worth money. And if an outfit will not pay you for showing up, take a hard look at what else it is not paying for.”

About Gorayeb & Associates, P.C.
Founded in 1986 by Christopher J. Gorayeb, Gorayeb & Associates, P.C. is a New York personal injury law firm concentrating in construction accident and occupational injury litigation. The firm has recovered more than $2 billion for more than 12,000 injured workers and their families. Known to the communities it serves as The People’s Lawyers; the firm provides bilingual representation in English and Spanish throughout New York City and New York State. More information is available at www.gorayeb.com.

Sources

Governor Kathy Hochul, Governor Hochul Signs Legislation to Improve the Safety and Prosperity of Workers in New York State, September 9, 2026
https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-legislation-improve-safety-and-prosperity-workers-new-york-state-during

New York State Assembly Bill A6950, the Construction Reporting Pay Act, adding Labor Law Sections 224-g and 196-e, signed as Chapter 291 of the Laws of 2026
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A6950

New York State Senate Bill S9843, companion legislation, floor vote of June 4, 2026
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S9843

Gorayeb & Associates, P.C.
https://www.gorayeb.com/en/

Media Contact:

Ryan McCormick
Goldman McCormick PR, INC
+1 516-901-1103
ryan@goldmanmccormick.com

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