On Sept. 22, 2023, the US Department of Labor filed a complaint in federal court alleging Reliance Staffing LLC and its owner, Fahim Uddin, failed to pay healthcare professionals overtime earned while working at skilled nursing facilities. An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division alleged that Uddin and Reliance Staffing misclassified their workers as independent contractors when, in fact, they were employees. By doing so, the employer failed to pay $90,765 in overtime wages to 70 registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants. The FLSA requires employees to be paid time and one-half their hourly rate of pay for hours over 40 in a pay period. The Bingham Farms, Michigan, company recruits and employs registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants. The complaint seeks a total of $181,531 for the workers representing the back wages owed and an equal amount in liquidated damages. The department also asked the court to issue an injunction forbidding Uddin and Reliance Staffing from future FLSA violations.
