Social Services Worker Alleges New York City Owes Unpaid Overtime

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

The City of New York has been hit with a proposed collective action in which a social services employee alleges she and similarly situated workers have not been paid proper time-and-a-half overtime wages.

According to the eight-page lawsuit, the city has, since at least November 2017, deprived the plaintiff and other employees of proper overtime pay by failing to include earned shift differentials and other payments when calculating the workers’ regular hourly rates of pay. 

“Plaintiffs’ overtime rates are miscalculated, and Plaintiffs are not compensated at the full rate of one- and one-half times their regular rate of pay inclusive of the paid differentials and other covered payments,” the lawsuit claims. 

The plaintiff, who’s worked since 2002 in positions such as juvenile counselor and associate youth development specialist, is a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Social Services Employees Union Local 371, the lawsuit says. According to the case, the city’s non-payment of proper overtime is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. 

According to the suit, the plaintiff and similarly situated workers are paid certain bonus compensation, such as longevity pay, night-shift differentials, assignment differentials, and other bonuses, above their hourly base rates of pay. These bonuses and differential payments must be included as part of an employee’s “regular pay” for the purpose of calculating overtime wages, the lawsuit says. 

The lawsuit looks to represent employees who, as members of the AFSCME District Council 37 Professional Division, performed work for the city at any time since November 4, 2017.

“Plaintiff and the Putative Collective are non-exempt employees eligible to be paid for every hour worked including overtime compensation for those hours worked over forty in a consecutive seven day week,” the lawsuit reads. 

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s newsletter here.