If you work or worked as a DSNY Sanitation Officer since June 2023, this FLSA case is over pay you may have earned for time already recorded — but there is no settlement and nothing to file yet.
Allegations Only · Complaint Stage
This page describes a class/collective action complaint. The statements below are unproven allegations. The defendant, the City of New York, has not answered the complaint, has not been found liable, no collective has been certified, and there is nothing to claim at this time. This page is informational and is not legal advice.
What Is This About?
More than two dozen current and former New York City Sanitation Officers have sued the City in a proposed Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action over unpaid overtime. The case, captioned Law v. City of New York, No. 1:26-cv-04872-JGK, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on June 9, 2026. Sanitation Officers — also called Sanitation Supervisors — are the frontline supervisors at the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) who set truck routes, oversee crews and equipment, respond to 311 complaints, and log fuel, mileage, and maintenance across the city.According to the complaint, the City schedules and requires these officers to work more than 40 hours a week but does not pay them for all of that time. The named plaintiffs allege the City failed to pay overtime for hours they were suffered or permitted to work before and after their shifts, calculated their overtime rate too low by leaving out certain premium pay, and paid approved overtime weeks or months late. The complaint describes these as systemic, agency-wide practices — and alleges they are willful, because the City has repeatedly been sued and held liable over the same timekeeping system. The allegations have not been proven, and the City has not yet responded.
The 15-Minute Problem
The heart of the case is a gap between what Sanitation Officers are scheduled to work and what they are paid. The City treats a "normal shift" as eight hours and pays officers for five eight-hour days — 40 hours a week. But under the governing collective bargaining agreement, the complaint says, every Sanitation Officer is actually scheduled to work five shifts of eight hours and 15 minutes, and officers must arrive 15 minutes before their shift start time and begin working — or face discipline.That scheduled but unpaid quarter-hour, the complaint alleges, adds up to at least one hour and 15 minutes of overtime every week that officers are not paid for. On top of that, the plaintiffs say they regularly arrive even earlier and stay later to do required tasks — filling out the route cards that let trucks leave the garage, overseeing crew and truck swaps, responding to 311 tickets, running fuel audits, and completing reports. The complaint alleges all of this pushes officers past 40 hours without proper overtime pay.
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The CityTime System
The complaint centers on how the City records and pays for time. Officers write down their actual start and stop times in a paper "blotter" at each garage or clock in electronically via "Web Clock," tracking their hours minute by minute. But the City allegedly runs payroll through a separate program called CityTime that, by default, pays officers for their scheduled eight-hour shift rather than for all the time they actually work. The plaintiffs call this a "pay-to-schedule" system rather than a "pay-to-punch" one — meaning work done before or after the eight-hour block is allegedly not captured or paid unless it is separately pre-approved as overtime.The complaint alleges the City knows or should know officers are working the extra time, because supervisors review the blotters and Web Clock entries and are in regular contact with officers before and after their paid shifts. According to the plaintiffs, the City has audited these logs and disciplined officers for showing up late to the unpaid 15-minute window, yet has not used the same records to pay for the time worked. These are allegations that the City has not yet answered.
Two More Overtime Claims
Beyond the off-the-clock time, the complaint raises two additional FLSA theories:- Wrong overtime rate. When the City does pay overtime, the plaintiffs allege it calculates the "regular rate" too low by leaving out premium pay such as night shift differentials and longevity pay. Under the FLSA, most forms of compensation must be folded into the regular rate before the time-and-a-half overtime rate is figured, so excluding them allegedly shortchanges every overtime hour.
- Late overtime. The complaint alleges that even approved overtime is often paid weeks or months after it was earned — sometimes past the next budget quarter — rather than on the payday for the period in which the work was done, which the FLSA requires absent a reasonable computation delay.
Each of these is an allegation. No court has found that the City violated the FLSA in this case, and the City has not yet responded to the complaint.
Why the Plaintiffs Say It's "Willful"
A recurring theme in the complaint is that New York City has faced — and lost — similar overtime cases before, which the plaintiffs use to argue the alleged violations are willful (a finding that can extend the FLSA's damages window from two years to three). The complaint points to Perry v. City of New York, in which the Second Circuit affirmed a jury verdict for City EMTs and paramedics resulting in a roughly $19.4 million judgment over unpaid pre- and post-shift time recorded on CityTime, including a finding of willfulness. It also cites earlier rulings involving other City agencies that use the same CityTime software.The complaint further notes that DSNY employees have brought several recent FLSA suits raising related pay issues — including Wynne v. City of New York, Torres v. City of New York, Mohamed v. City of New York, Richards v. City of New York, and Vitale v. City of New York — and alleges the City has not meaningfully changed its timekeeping or payroll practices in response. Those cases involved different groups of employees and are cited by the plaintiffs as context; each case is decided on its own facts, and nothing in them establishes liability here.
Who Could Be Affected?
The complaint seeks to represent a collective of "all employees of Defendant who have worked in the position of Sanitation Officer in the DSNY since June 5, 2023." Unlike a Rule 23 class action, an FLSA collective action is opt-in: workers who want to participate generally must file a written consent-to-join form, and the court decides whether the case can proceed on a collective basis. No collective has been certified, so the proposed definition and time period could be narrowed, expanded, or rejected. Until that happens, there is no group to "join" through this page and nothing for officers to file here.What's Being Sought
The plaintiffs ask the court for an accounting of the pay they say is owed; back pay for the unpaid and underpaid overtime; an equal amount in liquidated damages; interest; and attorneys' fees and costs under the FLSA. The complaint does not put a total dollar figure on the case, noting that the timekeeping and payroll data needed to calculate the amounts is in the City's possession. The plaintiffs are represented by McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP and Spivak Lipton LLP.What Happens Next?
The case is at an early stage. The City will have an opportunity to respond, and the court would decide whether to authorize notice to other Sanitation Officers so they can opt in. FLSA cases like this are often resolved through motion practice or settlement, but there is no settlement and no claim form now, and none is guaranteed. If you believe you are affected, keep any personal records of your hours; we will update this page as the public docket develops.Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a lawsuit over NYC sanitation overtime pay?
Yes. Law v. City of New York, No. 1:26-cv-04872-JGK, is a Fair Labor Standards Act collective action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on June 9, 2026. Current and former DSNY Sanitation Officers allege the City did not pay them for overtime work they were suffered or permitted to perform, miscalculated their overtime rate, and paid overtime late. The allegations are unproven, no collective has been certified, and there is nothing to claim at this time.
What does the complaint allege?
Three FLSA violations: failing to pay for a scheduled extra 15 minutes each shift plus other pre- and post-shift work; leaving night shift differentials and longevity pay out of the "regular rate" used to calculate overtime, so paid overtime is figured too low; and paying approved overtime weeks or months late. These are allegations; the City has not been found liable.
Who could the collective cover?
The complaint seeks to represent all employees who have worked as a Sanitation Officer in the New York City Department of Sanitation since June 5, 2023. In an FLSA collective, workers must affirmatively opt in by filing a written consent, and no collective has been certified yet, so the definition could change.
Has New York City lost cases like this before?
The complaint points to prior rulings against the City over the same CityTime timekeeping system. In Perry v. City of New York, the Second Circuit affirmed a roughly $19.4 million judgment for City EMTs and paramedics over unpaid pre- and post-shift time, including a finding that the violations were willful. Those cases involved different agencies and employees, and each case is decided on its own facts.
Can I file a claim or join the case?
There is no settlement and no claim form. The case is at the complaint stage. In an FLSA collective action, eligible workers who want to participate generally must file a written consent-to-join form, but any process and eligibility would be governed by the court. This page is informational and is not legal advice.
Sources
- Complaint — Law v. City of New York, No. 1:26-cv-04872-JGK (S.D.N.Y. filed June 9, 2026), available through the federal court docket (PACER / CourtListener).
- City of New York — Collective Bargaining Agreement, Sanitation Officers Association, Local 444, SEIU, AFL-CIO, nyc.gov (OLR)
- Perry v. City of New York, 78 F.4th 502 (2d Cir. 2023) — affirming a judgment for City EMTs and paramedics over unpaid pre- and post-shift time recorded on CityTime.
