By: Rick Boyle, Esq. and Diana Plue, Esq. Sheats & Bailey, PLLC
Four employment law changes will affect your crews, payroll, and personnel policies in 2026. One change is already in effect, and three more take effect before year-end. Together, they will affect how contractors schedule crews, maintain personnel files, screen applicants, and structure employee repayment agreements. Reviewing these practices now can help prevent payroll disputes and costly compliance problems later.
Cancelled Shifts can cost you money
Construction schedules change quickly. Weather, delayed deliveries, and an unavailable work area can leave a crew with little or nothing to do. Under the Construction Reporting Pay Act, sending workers home—or canceling too late—can still trigger a payment obligation.
The Construction Reporting Act adds Labor Law §§ 196-e and 224-g and applies across both public-sector and private construction projects. Labor Law § 224-g applies to public work construction projects. Starting December 8, 2026, the Act requires employers to pay two hours of cancellation pay, at the prevailing wage rate including supplemental benefits, to any employee whose scheduled shift is canceled with less than 12 hours’ notice. It also requires at least four hours of reporting pay, or payment for the number of hours worked if greater than four, for any employee who reports for a shift and is sent home early. If the applicable prevailing wage schedule provides greater cancellation or reporting pay benefits, the employer must follow that schedule.
Under Labor Law §196-e, for private construction projects, employees reporting for work at the employer’s request triggers a minimum payment of four hours, or the regularly scheduled shift if shorter, at the employee’s promised hourly wage. Canceling a scheduled shift with less than 12 hours’ notice requires two hours of pay.
Since reporting pay and cancellation pay are considered wages, employees may bring an action for non-payment of wages if not properly paid. Therefore, contractors should designate who may cancel shifts and use written, time-stamped notices to document when workers were notified. Employers should make sure their payroll system distinguishes hours actually worked from reporting and cancellation payments, account for required supplements, and handle applicable certified-payroll reporting.
If an owner or another contractor gives late notice that work cannot proceed, your company may still owe its employees. So, contractors should update their contracts to address how cost for cancellation or reporting pay will be allocated.
Personnel files will become easier to access:
Effective November 8, 2026, New York Labor Law § 210-b will require New York employers to provide current and former employees access to, and one free copy of, their personnel records within five business days after receiving a written request. Employers must retain the following records, if prepared by or provided to the employer, for at least three years after employment ends:
• Name, address, date of birth, job title, and job description;
• Pay rate and other compensation paid to the employee;
Employment start date;
• Job application;
• Resume or other employment inquiry materials submitted to the employer;
• Performance evaluations, written warnings, disciplinary actions, and similar records;
• Employee waivers; and
• A copy of the employee’s notice of termination.
Employers must also notify an employee within 10 days after placing in the personnel file any disciplinary record or other document that could negatively affect the employee’s transfer, employment, promotion, or compensation opportunities. Employees may submit a written rebuttal, which must be included in the personnel file.
Employers that deny access or otherwise violate the law may face penalties from the Attorney General’s Office ranging from $500 to $2,500.
Employers should create protocols for responding to record requests and notifying employees when negative information is added to a personnel file.
Rethink Credit Checks before you hire
Credit Check Restrictions—Effective April 18, 2026:
NYS amended the NYS Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit an employer, except in limited circumstances, from requesting and using an individual’s credit history when making employment decisions. The restriction reaches hiring, compensation, and other terms and conditions of employment, including promotion and termination decisions.
An employer generally cannot avoid the restriction by asking the individual to supply a credit report directly or by obtaining it through a background screening company. Contractors should review employment applications, screening authorizations, and instructions to background screening vendors. Remove routine credit checks unless a specific exception applies and document the basis for any check that remains.
Review repayment clauses before investing in training:
Under the Trapped at Work Act employers may not require, as a condition of employment, that an employee or applicant execute an employment promissory note that requires an employee to pay the employer a sum of money for reimbursement of training expenses or nontransferable education expenses, if the employment relationship terminates before a stated period. The law includes exceptions, but those exceptions have conditions. Employers should review training reimbursement agreements and repayment provisions before the effective date. Whether a clause is permissible depends on what it covers and how it is structured, rather than its label.
Taken together, these changes make early compliance planning essential for New York contractors. Reviewing scheduling practices, personnel-file procedures, hiring screens, and repayment provisions now can help avoid wage claims, penalties, and project disruptions once the new rules take effect.
If you need further assistance or have additional questions, please contact Sheats & Bailey, PLLC. www.TheConstructionlaw.com; Tel. 315-676-7314.
The information provided above is not intended to serve as specific legal advice for any particular situation. Competent legal and experienced counsel should be consulted.