On Oct. 13, 2023, Judge Mark A. Goldsmith entered an agreed consent order and judgment requiring a home healthcare company and its owner to pay a total of $95,074 in back wages, liquidated damages, and interest to 34 workers. Prior to the execution of the consent order and judgment, the company paid $31,791 of the back wages owed. The company and its owner agreed to pay the remaining amount including $1,225 in interest by Sept. 20, 2024.
An investigation by the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division alleged the Filion, Michigan, home healthcare services provider failed to pay care workers overtime at time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek from at least Aug. 1, 2019, to July 31, 2021, which is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The company and its owner are also required to distribute informational materials to employees concerning their rights under the FLSA and were ordered not to violate the act in the future.
“Every worker deserves to be paid for hours they work and the overtime they have earned,” Timolin Mitchell, the Wage and Hour Deputy Regional Administrator for the Midwest Region, said. “Employers must know the wage laws that apply to their employees and pay them accordingly.”
Compliance Perspective
Issue
The FLSA sets minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards for employment subject to its provisions. Unless exempt, covered employees must be paid at least the minimum wage and not less than one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for overtime hours worked. Hours worked ordinarily include all the time during which an employee is required to be on the employer’s premises, on duty, or at a prescribed workplace. Every covered employer must keep certain records for each non-exempt worker. The Act requires no particular form for the records, but does require that the records include certain identifying information about the employee and data about the hours worked and the wages earned. The law requires this information to be accurate.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies and procedures on fair wages, overtime pay eligibility, and recordkeeping. Update if needed.
- Train all staff with responsibility for determining fair wages, overtime pay eligibility, and recordkeeping so that they are knowledgeable about your policies and procedures to ensure they comply with federal and state requirements. Document that these trainings occurred, and file each signed document in the employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit to ensure compliance with minimum wage laws, and that overtime pay eligibility and recordkeeping are accurate and being reported correctly.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
