Agreements That Shorten Your Time to Sue an Employer in New York

A sentence in a job application can cut the time you have to sue from years to months, and whether it holds up depends on which law your claim is under. Under New York State law, a written, reasonable, shortened limitations period is enforceable, and in March 2025 a State appellate court enforced a six-month clause in a job application.⁠^[1][2] Under New York City law, a clause that purports to shorten the time to bring claims under the City Human Rights Law is void; the NYC Commission on Human Rights lists that law as effective May 11, 2024.⁠^[4][5][6]

A limitations period is the time the law gives you to start a case. A contractual limitations clause is a term in which you agree to a shorter one. This page explains where those clauses are found, the general New York rule, the 2025 decision, the New York City exception and how the pieces fit together claim by claim.

Where do these clauses show up?

Not only in negotiated contracts. In the 2025 case discussed below, the clause was in an employment application that the worker signed electronically; it shortened the period "for any employment-related claims to six months from the date of occurrence."⁠^[1] CPLR 201 speaks of any "written agreement," so the same question can arise for other documents signed at hiring.⁠^[1]

What is the general rule in New York?

New York State's Civil Practice Law and Rules allow it. CPLR 201 says an action must be commenced within the time the statute specifies "unless a different time is prescribed by law or a shorter time is prescribed by written agreement."⁠^[1] The rule the Second Department applied in 2025, quoting a 1979 Court of Appeals decision, is that an agreement specifying "a shorter, but reasonable, period within which to commence an action is enforceable provided it is in writing."⁠^[2][3]

The periods being shortened are long. A court action under the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) is governed by the three-year period of CPLR 214(2).⁠^[7] A court action under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) must be commenced within three years after the alleged practice.⁠^[8] A six-month clause, where it is enforced, replaces three years with half of one.

What did the court decide in Salati v. Northwell Health?

Salati v. Northwell Health is a March 19, 2025, decision of the Appellate Division, Second Department, a New York State appeals court.⁠^[2] The facts were simple:

• In 2021 the plaintiff applied for a position and electronically signed an employment application containing a provision shortening the limitations period for any employment-related claims to six months from the date of occurrence.⁠^[1]
• She was hired in March 2021 and her employment was terminated on November 23, 2021.⁠^[2]
• She started her action on May 24, 2022, six months and one day after the termination.⁠^[2]

The trial court had denied the employer's motion to dismiss. The Appellate Division reversed and dismissed the complaint as time-barred against the moving defendants, holding that the limitations period had expired on May 23, 2022.⁠^[2] The court explained that once the employer produced the signed application, the burden shifted to the employee to raise a question of fact as to whether the limitations period was tolled or otherwise inapplicable.⁠^[2] She did not raise a question of fact as to whether the shortened period was unconscionable or otherwise unenforceable.⁠^[1]

Two limits on what the decision shows. The opinion describes the case as "an action to recover damages for employment discrimination and wrongful termination" and does not name the statutes the employee sued under.⁠^[1] And it is a decision of the Appellate Division, Second Department, although the general rule it applied is quoted from the Court of Appeals.⁠^[3]

What did New York City change in 2024?

Local Law 62 of 2024 added two provisions to the City Human Rights Law. The local law says it "takes effect immediately," and the NYC Commission on Human Rights lists it as enacted and effective May 11, 2024.⁠^[6]

• Agency complaints. Under N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-109(e-1), any provision of an agreement involving an employer, employment agency or their agent, pertaining to terms of employment, that purports to shorten the periods for filing a complaint with the NYC Commission on Human Rights is unenforceable and void as against public policy.⁠^[4]
• Court actions. Under § 8-502(d-1), the same is true of a provision that purports to shorten the period in which a civil action under the City law may be commenced.⁠^[5]

The periods protected are the City law's own: one year to file with the Commission, three years for a claim of gender-based harassment, and three years to sue.⁠^[9][10][8] Each provision also says that nothing in it affects the enforceability of any other provision of the agreement.⁠^[4]

Both provisions are written by reference to the City law's own periods: § 8-109(e) for Commission complaints and § 8-502(d) for civil actions.⁠^[4][5] Salati does not mention them: the application in that case was signed in 2021, the case came from Suffolk County, and the opinion does not say which statutes were sued under.⁠^[1][3] Neither the local law nor the Commission's list says whether the provisions reach agreements signed before the law took effect.⁠^[6]

How does this work claim by claim?

Claim	Period set by law	Effect of a clause shortening it
NYCHRL complaint to the NYC Commission on Human Rights	One year; three years for gender-based harassment.⁠[9][10]	Unenforceable and void as against public policy.⁠[4][6]
NYCHRL court action	Three years.⁠[8]	Unenforceable and void as against public policy.⁠[5][6]
NYSHRL court action	Three years under CPLR 214(2).⁠[7]	Under CPLR 201 and the case law, a written, reasonable shortened period is enforceable; the Second Department enforced a six-month clause in a 2025 employment case whose opinion does not name the statutes sued under.⁠[1][2]
NYSHRL complaint to the State Division of Human Rights	Three years after the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice.⁠[11]	Not covered in this guide.
Federal charge at the EEOC (Title VII)	300 days where proceedings were first instituted with a State or local agency (otherwise 180), then 90 days to sue after the EEOC gives notice.⁠[12][13]	Not covered in this guide.

The table shows why one set of facts can carry several clocks. A worker in Manhattan with the same harassment claim under the NYSHRL and the NYCHRL may find a six-month clause void for one and enforceable for the other.⁠^[5][1] For the full list of statutory periods, see every deadline for a New York workplace claim, and for what the City law covers, the New York City Human Rights Law, explained.

Is this the same as signing a release?

No. A limitations clause shortens the time to bring a claim; a release gives the claim up. Releases have their own rules. Under federal law, the EEOC's guidance on severance agreements says that even after signing a release a person can still file a charge with the EEOC, and that a provision attempting to waive that right is invalid and unenforceable.⁠^[14] That guidance is about waivers of the right to file a charge; it does not speak to limitations clauses. See severance agreements and releases.

What people get wrong

• "A shortened deadline in a job application is unenforceable." The City Human Rights Law says so for its own filing periods.⁠^[4][5] Outside those provisions, a New York State appellate court enforced a six-month clause in March 2025.⁠^[1]
• "I have three years no matter what I signed." CPLR 201 expressly allows a shorter time prescribed by written agreement.⁠^[1]
• "Close enough is good enough." The action in Salati was dismissed for being filed one day after the six months ended.⁠^[2]

For employers and HR

The same rules read from the employer's side: under New York State law a shortened period has to be in writing and reasonable to be enforced.⁠^[2] In New York City, a provision that purports to shorten the City-law filing periods is void, and the provisions say they do not affect the enforceability of the rest of the agreement.⁠^[4][5]

Practical steps

Gather every document from hiring and onboarding, including anything completed online, and search each for words such as "limitations," "within six months," "180 days" or "waive any statute of limitations." If the employer has the forms and you do not, ask for copies in writing and keep the request. Write down the date of each event you are concerned about. If you find a shortening clause, count from the event to the shortest date the clause could produce and treat that as the working limit until a lawyer tells you otherwise; the three-year periods described elsewhere in this library may not be the ones that govern your case.⁠^[1] If a date may already have passed, see missed a deadline?. Arbitration terms are covered in arbitration agreements and class waivers, and the forums themselves are compared in going straight to court and filing with the NYC Commission on Human Rights.