The US Department of Labor’s recovery of more than $1 million in minimum and overtime wages owed to 859 home healthcare workers employed by two Texas companies show that improper pay practices in the industry remain a systemic problem in Texas and across the nation. Investigations by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Alegre Home Health Care LLC in Mission and Pas Home Care LLC in Weslaco shortchanged employees by violating numerous federal regulations that govern how workers must legally be paid. Specifically, division investigators found both employers failed to combine all hours worked for the purpose of calculating employees’ overtime wages. The employers paid the affected employees straight-time rates for all hours worked, including for hours over 40 in a workweek when an overtime rate applies. In addition, the division found Alegre Home Health Care and Pas Home Care adjusted employees’ established wage rates during weeks when they worked overtime to avoid paying the required overtime rates.
