NEW YORK LABOR DEPARTMENT RELEASES UPDATED GUIDANCE ON HEALTHY TERMINALS ACT
February 27, 2026
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On January 1, 2026, several changes to New York’s Healthy Terminals Act went into effect. When it was first enacted in 2021, the Healthy Terminals Act was intended to enhance wages and benefits for airport workers at Port Authority-operated airports. For example, it demands that employers provide a $5.55 health and welfare supplement on all hours worked up to 40 per week. To better align New York law with New Jersey’s version of the Healthy Terminals Act, New York Governor Hochul authorized legislation last year to reform airport wage and benefit obligations to reflect New Jersey’s version of the law with those reforms taking effect on January 1, 2026. The key takeaway is that multistate compliance for those with airport employees (e.g., carriers employing New Jersey and New York-based employees) should be more streamlined in 2026 due to recent changes. In addition to consulting with counsel to mitigate compliance risks, carriers employing covered employees (i.e., airport workers who spend at least 50 percent of their working time at a covered airport) should refer to the Healthy Terminals Act Frequently Asked Questions page (available here) for additional information. The FAQs page will be updated periodically by New York’s Department of Labor as new information comes to light.
This Aviation Blog post is intended to keep readers current on developments in the law. It is not intended to be legal advice. If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr at 202.659.6622 or esahr@eckertseamans.com; Drew Derco at 202.659.6665 or dderco@eckertseamans.com; Tyler Myers at 202.659.6642 or trmyers@eckertseamans.com, or any other attorney at Eckert Seamans with whom you have been working.
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