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New York State fast food workers now all paid at least $15 hourly

Photo: iStock.

July 2, 2021

As of this July 1, all fast food employees in New York state must make $15 an hour, thanks to 2016 legislation that has gradually raised the state's rate of pay for minimum wage jobs to $15 per hour, matching that already set in New York City itself, where such workers have made that rate for 2½ years now. The rest of the state's fast food workers had been making $14.50/hour for the past six months.

According to Syracuse, New York's Post-Standard, that means that a full-time fast food worker in New York outside of the Big Apple will henceforth be taking home an extra $20 each week. The state's legislature established the tiered increase almost five years ago, though the rate was raised more quickly in the southern part of the state due to its higher cost of living.

New York's minimum wage workers across all industries is:

• New York City — $15.
• Long Island and Westchester County — $14.50.
• All other parts of New York state — $12.50.