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Council presses DSNY on overtime, retention and efforts to rein in costs
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Summary
Council members pressed the Department of Sanitation about high overtime spending, asking for vacancy and overtime‑hour breakdowns; DSNY said average uniform overtime was about 225 hours per employee in FY25 and described weekly monitoring of top overtime earners and bureau-level reviews.
At a New York City Council budget hearing, committee members probed the Department of Sanitation’s reliance on overtime and the agency’s retention and hiring practices.
Acting Commissioner Javier Luham said DSNY is “currently staffed for all uniform positions” with a civilian vacancy of a little over 3%. He told the committee that, for fiscal year 25, the average overtime hours per uniformed employee were about 225 hours and that snow operations add roughly 34–39 hours per uniformed worker annually. The department reported actual overtime spending of $204.7 million in FY25.
Luham described steps to reduce overtime, including weekly meetings by bureau chiefs to review top overtime earners and require unit heads to justify budgeted posts. Joseph Antonelli, DSNY’s deputy commissioner for management and budget, said overtime fluctuates with weather and event-driven needs and that some operational posts are seasonal or event‑based.
What council members asked for and DSNY pledged to provide:
- A percentage of workers exceeding 200 overtime hours per year (DSNY said it is working to provide exact figures). - More detailed retention statistics for one‑ and three‑year new hire survival (DSNY said those stats are not yet compiled but will be provided).
Why it matters: High overtime levels are a recurring budget pressure that can mask staffing shortfalls and increase personnel costs; council members signaled they will seek follow‑up data to assess whether hiring additional full‑time staff is more cost‑effective than continued heavy overtime use.
Ending: DSNY said it will provide requested breakdowns and that internal investigations and DOI notifications occur if overtime flags look irregular; the committee will review those details during budget follow-ups.
