On February 20, 2024, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced that they had recovered more than $1 million in minimum and overtime wages owed to 859 home healthcare workers employed by two Texas companies. The investigations conducted by the Department’s Wage and Hour Division revealed that these companies had violated federal regulations governing fair compensation for workers.
Specifically, division investigators found that both employers had failed to combine all hours worked when calculating employees’ overtime wages. Instead of paying the legally required overtime rates for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek, the companies had compensated affected employees at straight-time rates. Furthermore, during weeks when employees worked overtime, the companies adjusted their established wage rates to avoid fulfilling their obligation to pay overtime.
As a result of these investigations, the affected employees received a combined recovery of $1,041,406 in minimum wage and overtime back wages. This amount included $900,786 for 716 employees of one company and $140,620 for 143 employees of the other.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
The Fair Labor Standards Act (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.*
