New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Labor Law § 2 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026

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§ 2. Definitions. Whenever used in this chapter:
  1. "Department" means the department of labor of the state of New
York.
  2. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of labor of the state of New
York.
  3. "Board," as determined by the context, shall mean either the
workmen's compensation board or the industrial board of appeals of the
state of New York.
  4. "Rule" means any rule or regulation made by the industrial
commissioner and any amendment or repeal thereof.
  5. "Employee" means a mechanic, workingman or laborer working for
another for hire.
  6. "Employer" means the person employing any such mechanic, workingman
or laborer, whether the owner, proprietor, agent, superintendent,
foreman or other subordinate.
  7. "Employed" includes permitted or suffered to work.
  8. "Person" includes a corporation or a joint-stock association.
  8-a. "Agent" of a corporation includes, but is not limited to, a
manager, superintendent, foreman, supervisor or any other person
employed acting in such capacity.
  9. "Factory" includes a mill, workshop or other manufacturing
establishment where one or more persons are employed at manufacturing,
including making, altering, repairing, finishing, bottling, canning,
cleaning or laundering any article or thing, in whole or in part, and
includes all buildings, sheds, structures or other places used for or in
connection therewith, except (a) dry dock plants engaged in making
repairs to ships and (b) power houses, generating plants and other
structures owned or operated by a public service corporation or a
municipal corporation other than construction or repair shops, subject
to the jurisdiction of the public service commission and (c) structures,
operated as refrigerated warehouses for the handling, packing,
refrigeration and storage of fruits and vegetables and which are subject
to the jurisdiction of or licensed by the department of agriculture and
markets, also structures used in cleaning or packing celery. The
provisions of this chapter affecting structural changes and alterations
shall not apply to factories or to any buildings, sheds or other places
used for or in connection therewith where less than six persons are
employed at manufacturing except as otherwise prescribed by the rules.
  10. "Factory building" means a building, shed or structure which, or
any part of which, is occupied by or used for a factory, and in which at
least one-tenth or more than twenty-five of all the persons employed in
the building are engaged in work for a factory, but shall not include a
building in a city having a population of more than one million, used
exclusively by one employer and in which not more than one-tenth of all
the persons employed therein are engaged in work for a factory and
which, except for such factory work, would be classified as a mercantile
establishment. The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any part of
a building occupied or used as a factory, except as otherwise provided
by this subdivision.
  11. "Mercantile establishment" means a place where one or more persons
are employed in which goods, wares or merchandise are offered for sale
and includes a building, shed or structure, or any part thereof,
occupied in connection with such establishment. The provisions of this
chapter affecting structural changes and alterations shall not apply to
mercantile establishments where less than six persons are employed
except as otherwise prescribed by the rules.
  12. "Place of public assembly" shall include (1) a theatre, (2) moving
picture house, (3) assembly halls maintained or leased for pecuniary
gain where one hundred or more persons may assemble for amusement or
recreation, except (a) halls owned by churches, religious organizations,
granges, and public association and free libraries as defined by section
two hundred fifty-three of the education law, and (b) hotels having
fifty or more rooms.
  13. "Public building" shall include a factory building, an office
building, a mercantile building, a hotel building, a theatre building, a
warehouse building, an apartment building, a state or municipal
building, a school, a college or university building, a building
containing a place of public assembly maintained or leased for pecuniary
gain, or any other building more than one story high except a dwelling
house less than three stories high or occupied by less than three
families.
  14. All references to male employees in this chapter shall be deemed
to include female employees.
  15. "Minor" means any person who has not attained the age of eighteen
years.
  16. "Domestic worker" shall mean a person employed in a home or
residence for the purpose of caring for a child, serving as a companion
for a sick, convalescing or elderly person, housekeeping, or for any
other domestic service purpose. "Domestic worker" does not include any
individual (a) working on a casual basis, (b) who is engaged in
providing companionship services, as defined in paragraph fifteen of
subdivision (a) of section 213 of the fair labor standards act of 1938,
and who is employed by an employer or agency other than the family or
household using his or her services, or (c) who is a relative through
blood, marriage or adoption of: (1) the employer; or (2) the person for
whom the worker is delivering services under a program funded or
administered by federal, state or local government.
  17. All references to labor law, chapter, article or section shall be
deemed to include any rule, regulation or order promulgated thereunder
or related thereto.
  18. "Farm laborer" shall mean any individual who works on a farm and
is an employee under article nineteen of this chapter. Members of an
employer's immediate family who are related to the third degree of
consanguinity or affinity shall not be considered to be employed on a
farm if they work on a farm out of familial obligations and are not paid
wages, or other compensation based on their hours or days of work.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 109 cases (27 in the last 5 years), 1969–2026 · leading case: Jock v. Fien, 80 N.Y.2d 965 (NY 1992).

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Jock v. Fien, 80 N.Y.2d 965 (NY 1992). · cites it 3× “That Court added that the injured plaintiff was engaged in a normal manufacturing process, which is "outside the scope of Labor Law §§ 200, 240 (1) and 241 (6) and is instead covered under article 11 of the Labor Law and more specifically section 316, which applies to owners and…”

Keun-Jae Moon v. Joon Gab Kwon, 248 F. Supp. 2d 201 (S.D.N.Y. 2002). · cites it 2× “” N.Y. Lab. L. § 2 (7). Accordingly, work that is not requested by an employer, but is nevertheless “suffer[ed] or permit[ted],” is compensable work time under both statutes.”

Vera v. Low Income Mktg. Corp., 2016 NY Slip Op 8318 (N.Y. App. Div. 2016). · cites it 4× “tiff’s “employment” at the site, given the different statutory definitions of “employment” in the Labor Law and the Workers’ Compensation Law (see Baker v Muraski, 61 AD3d 1373, 1374 [4th Dept 2009] [determination by the WCB that the plaintiff was not employed by the defendant…”

Mordkofsky v. V.C.V. Dev. Corp., 563 N.E.2d 263 (NY 1990). · cites it 2× “Because he was not an "employee” or "employed” at this site, was not a "mechanic, workingman or laborer working for another for hire” (Labor Law §2 [5]) nor one "permitted or suffered to work” (Labor Law §2 [7]) at the place of the occurrence he cannot be considered to have been…”

Barenboim v. starbucks, Winans v. Starbucks Corp., 698 F.3d 104 (2d Cir. 2012). · cites it 2× “These appeals present two unresolved questions of New York law: First, what types of employees are eligible to participate in a tip-pooling arrangement, and what factors should inform a court’s consideration of eligibility? Section 196-d prohibits an “agent,” defined elsewhere…”

Chen v. Street Beat Sportswear, Inc., 364 F. Supp. 2d 269 (E.D.N.Y 2005). · cites it 2× “” See N.Y. Labor Law § 2 (7). 9 Both parties agree that courts apply similar standards under federal and New York law.”

Ramos v. Baldor Specialty Foods, Inc., 687 F.3d 554 (2d Cir. 2012). “§§ 207 (a)(1), 216(b), and analogous sections of New York Labor Law (“NYLL”), N.Y. Labor L. §§ 2 , 651, 663(1); see also N.”

Morton v. State, 930 N.E.2d 271 (NY 2010). · cites it 2× “Since the claimant was performing work without the State's permission or knowledge, he was not a person `employed' at a work site within the meaning of the Labor Law, which defines such an individual as one `permitted or suffered to work' (Labor Law § 2 [7])" ( 13 AD3d at 500…”

Barenboim v. Starbucks Corp., 995 N.E.2d 153 (NY 2013). · cites it 2× “Is the degree of supervisory or managerial authority exercised by an employee relevant to determining whether the employee is a ‘manager [or] supervisor’ under N.Y. Lab. Law § 2 (8-a) and, thus, an employer’s ‘agent’ under § 196-d? “b.”

Feher Rubbish Removal, Inc. v. New York State Dep't of Labor, 28 A.D.3d 1 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005). · cites it 2× “(collectively, plaintiffs) “for refuse collection under contracts with municipalities’ ’ to the extent that such “determination^] ” included properties that were not “ ‘public buildings’ ” as that term is defined by Labor Law § 2 (13). Additionally, the court declared that…”

Doo Nam Yang v. ACBL CORP., 427 F. Supp. 2d 327 (S.D.N.Y. 2005). “Joint and Several Liability of Lee To be liable under the FLSA, one must be an "employer," which the statute broadly defines as "any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.”

Guo Zhong Wu v. Qiao Lin (In re Qiao Lin), 576 B.R. 32 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. 2017). “2009) (quoting N.Y. Labor Law § 2 (6)). The court noted that “there is general support for giving FLSA and the New York Labor Law consistent interpretations, and courts have interpreted the definition of ‘employer’ under the New York Labor Law coextensively with the definition…”

Show all 109 citing cases →

— N.Y. Labor Law § 2(5) — 3 cases

Vera v. Low Income Mktg. Corp., 2016 NY Slip Op 8318 (N.Y. App. Div. 2016). “tiff’s “employment” at the site, given the different statutory definitions of “employment” in the Labor Law and the Workers’ Compensation Law (see Baker v Muraski, 61 AD3d 1373, 1374 [4th Dept 2009] [determination by the WCB that the plaintiff was not employed by the defendant…”

Eliassian v. G.F. Constr., Inc., 2021 NY Slip Op 00419 (N.Y. App. Div. 2021).

Eliassian v. G.F. Constr., Inc., 2018 NY Slip Op 5020 (N.Y. App. Div. 2018).

— N.Y. Labor Law § 2(7) — 2 cases

The Matter of the Claim of Luis A. Vega v. Postmates Inc (NY 2020).

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