MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER I. INTRODUCTION On March 4, 2022, Albert Pickard (“Named Plaintiff”), on behalf of himself and similarly situated persons who are presently or formerly employed by OnSite Facility Services, LLC (“OnSite” or “Defendant”) and/or any other entities affiliated with or controlled by OnSite in trades and occupations entitled to receive overtime compensation (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), brought this putative class action against Defendant alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§206, 207, and 216(b) (“FLSA”); New York Labor Law §190 et seq.; New York Labor Law §§650 et seq., 663 (together, “NYLL”); 12 New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (“NYCRR”) §§142 et seq. See Dkt. No. 11 (“Complaint”). On October 13, 2022, the parties engaged in a mediation before Magistrate Judge David E. Peebles but were unable to reach a settlement at that time. Dkt. No. 27 at 7; September 2, 2022 Text Notice of Mediation. By a letter dated November 16, 2022, the parties reported to Magistrate Judge Miroslav Lovric that they had reached a settlement in principle. Dkt. No. 20. On February 6, 2023, Plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement. See Dkt. No. 27. After reviewing the documents provided by Plaintiffs, the Court granted Preliminary Approval on June 8, 2023. See Dkt. No. 31. On September 25, 2023, Plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion for Final Approval of the Class Action Settlement (the “Motion”). See Dkt. No. 32. The Court held a fairness hearing on October 10, 2023, during which the Court expressed its intent to approve the settlement provided that Defendant permit the sole late-filed claim to proceed as though it had been timely filed — and advised that a written decision would follow. For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs’ Motion is granted. II. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background Defendant Onsite is a New York corporation, Dkt. No. 1 at 12, involved in the business of property design, management, and maintenance, id. at 27. Named Plaintiff is a resident of New York, and is employed by Defendant as a full-time, nonseasonal maintenance worker. Id. at 10. Named Plaintiff commenced his employment with Defendant in or around December 2018. Id. at 25. Through counsel, Gattuso & Ciotoli, PLLC (“Class Counsel”), Plaintiffs brought this putative class action alleging violations of the FLSA, NYLL and NYCRR. See id. at 1. Plaintiffs allege that Defendant (i) “has engaged in a policy and practice depriving its employees of the applicable straight time wages and overtime wages for work they performed,” id. at 2, (ii) “has engaged in a policy and practice of requiring its employees to regularly work in excess of 40 hours a week, without providing overtime compensation,” id. at 3, and (iii) “failed to provide appropriate wage notices,” id. at 4. More specifically, Plaintiffs allege that OnSite would “unilaterally edit the clock-in times…after they would arrive at the work facility early under Defendant’s orders and perform work-related tasks prior to the scheduled start time of their shifts, resulting in a failure by Defendant to properly account for and pay for all hours worked,” and “maintained a common policy and practice of automatically deducting meal breaks from [their] pay…whether or not Plaintiff[s] actually took a meal break, resulting in a failure by Defendant to properly account for and pay for all hours worked.” Dkt. No. 27-1 at 6-7. B. The Settlement Agreement2 The Settlement Agreement reached by the parties provides that Defendant will pay a total sum of up to $175,000 (“Total Settlement Amount”) to “fully and finally resolve the claims at issue in this litigation in their entirety including, but not limited to, all claims and demands for attorneys’ fees, expenses and costs; interest; back wages; and liquidated/statutory damages.” Dkt. No. 32-3 at 3(a). The Total Settlement Amount is intended to cover: the total award of fees and costs to Class Counsel, the total award of a service payment, the full cost of administration of the settlement and claims process, all payments to be made to class members pursuant to the settlement, the full amount of W-2 withholdings (and state/local withholdings if applicable) on the payments to be made to the class members pursuant to the settlement, and any employer share of payroll taxes on the payments to be made to the class members under the settlement. Id. Defendant will deposit the settlement funds into a qualified settlement fund that will be established and administered by the Settlement Administrator, Martom Solutions, LLC. Id. at
