Here are some of the types of situations we have seen with building superintendents:
- The super is on call 24/7 and has to respond to calls at all hours of the day but is only paid for a few hours’ worth of work a day.
- The building owner allows the super to live in the building “rent free” as payment, but does not pay any cash wages.
- The super is paid a “salary” or a set amount each week or month, regardless of how many hours are worked each week.
- The super is not given any kind of overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours a week.
- The super is never told or required to keep track of hours worked (don’t worry if you don’t have records).
- The super is paid a “paycheck” for some work, and then a different kind of check for “extra” work.
- Even though more than one person works in the building, they are both/all called superintendents and paid the same way.
- There is a property management corporation and a building owner; both have some degree of authority over the super but it’s not clear which one or both is really “the boss”.
Any of these sound familiar? Have any to add to the list? Give us a call or just fill out the form below and let us do a FREE analysis of your situation to see if you might be entitled to wages. No commitment, no strings attached. Nothing to lose!
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
There are at least three overlapping laws that can apply to NYC building supers:
FLSA: the federal minimum wage and overtime law (the Fair Labor Standards Act)
NYLL: the state wage law (the New York Labor Law)
NY wage order: the state wage order pertaining to the building service industry, NYCCRR.
- Sometimes (but not always) under New York law, a super can properly be paid on the basis of how many units there are in the building.
- Similarly, sometimes a building owner can get some amount of credit toward wages for free rent of an apartment, but there are very specific requirements they must comply with in order to do so, and quite simply a good many of them just plain get it wrong.
- For the purpose of these laws, it doesn’t matter whether you are called a superintendent, a “super,” a janitor, a porter, a doorman, or if you don’t have a title at all. We will look at what you actually do or did at the job.
Note: We only take cases on behalf of workers who are NOT in a union. Nothing against unions – it’s just that those situations are bound by an entirely different set of laws and procedures.