FEBRUARY EDITION
Your Compliance Questions, Answered
By Dana Holle, GovDocs Counsel and Manager Employment Law and Compliance
February 24, 2026
Each month, GovDocs’ Employment Law & Compliance Team answers the most common employment law questions employers are facing. This February edition covers Santa Fe’s 2026 minimum wage increases, remote labor law posting requirements, and New York City’s ESSTA updates effective Feb. 22, 2026.
Staying compliant in today’s rapidly evolving employment law landscape often raises more questions than answers. Each month, Dana Holle, Counsel & Manager of GovDocs’ Employment Law & Compliance Team, tackles the most asked employment law compliance questions by employers across the country.
The City and County of Santa Fe typically adjust their minimum wage rates in March. Have the 2026 rates been announced yet?
In early February, the GovDocs Compliance Team reached out to the City of Sante Fe to confirm whether they were releasing an updated minimum wage given the recent amendments to their Living Wage Ordinance. On Feb. 9, 2026, the City of Santa Fe confirmed that the minimum wage in the city increases to $15.40, effective March 1, 2026. As the city does not have its own separate tipped employee wage, it continues to follow the $3.00 set at the state level.
A day later, Santa Fe County followed suit announcing its minimum wage adjustment to $15.40, effective March 1, 2026. Santa Fe County does have its own tipped employee wage that increases to $4.62 on March 1. As a reminder, Santa Fe County’s Living Wage ordinance only applies to employees working at locations in the unincorporated areas of Santa Fe County.
For dynamic wage updates at every employer location across the United States, check out GovDocs Minimum Wage.
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Are employers required to provide labor law postings to remote employees who live in states where there is no physical workplace?
Employers are required to provide labor law posting information to all employees. For employees who report to a physical worksite, this obligation is met by displaying labor law posters in a conspicuous location within the workplace.
For remote employees, labor law poster compliance can be more complex. Even in 2026, the majority of posting requirements were drafted before the rise of remote work and do not specifically address electronic delivery.
When employees do not report regularly to an office location but work remotely, providing these remote workers with easy access to the postings via electronic methods, such as through GovDocs Intranet Poster Program, the company’s intranet, or sending copies directly to remote workers via email, is considered best practice.
What changes were made to New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act, effective February 22, 2026?
On Oct. 25, 2025 New York City passed legislation amending the City’s Earned Safe and Sick time Act (ESSTA). Effective Feb 22, 2026, New York City’s ESSTA requires employers to provide 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time to covered employees immediately available upon hire and at the start of each calendar year. Note, employers are not required to carry over the unused, unpaid safe and sick time to the following calendar year. The amendment also expands the eligible reasons to use earned safe and sick time aligning with New York City’s Temporary Schedule Change Law, while also incorporating New York State’s paid prenatal leave provisions.
