A federal court has approved a consent judgment ordering a Southern California adult care provider with a history of labor violations to pay $690,696 to 108 employees after the US Department of Labor recently found the Garden Grove-based employer denied workers all their earned wages. The Dec. 14, 2022, action by the US District Court for the Central District of California follows the discovery by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that Neldy’s R.C. Inc., operating as Neldy’s Adult Residential Care Home, purposely did not combine all hours worked and paid the affected employees with multiple paychecks to hide their illegal practices. Division investigators also found Neldy’s deducted meal breaks from workers’ wages when their duties required them to work during their breaks, and failed to keep time and payroll records as required. Specifically, the court ordered Neldy’s R.C. Inc. to pay $345,348 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected workers, and $25,000 in civil money penalties for its willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The order also permanently prohibits the care provider from committing future FLSA violations at its 12 locations in Orange and Riverside counties. Prior investigations into the company’s pay practices from 2013 through 2016 led to the department’s recovery of $1,069,730 for 58 workers, following the discovery that Neldy’s R.C. Inc. violated minimum wage and overtime provisions in the FLSA.
