Despite serving the needs of the elderly at four Maryland assisted-living facilities with high-quality, compassionate care, 27 essential workers fell victim to employers who showed little concern for their well-being or for paying them all the wages they legally earned. A US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation in September 2017 found Fair Labor Standards Act violations by International Health Care Consultants Inc., company owner and President Lois Peters and Frank Dickerson, who managed four group homes owned and operated by IHCC in Fulton, Columbia and Mount Airy. The division found the employers paid caregivers and technicians less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, an FLSA violation. IHCC paid some workers a day rate of $65 per day for 12 hours of work, which equals less than $5.42 per hour. The employers paid other employees $80 a day for 12 hours of work, or less than $6.67 per hour. By doing so, the employers also incurred overtime violations when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.
Additionally, investigators determined that when some employees worked overnight 24-hour shifts, the employer paid only a day rate for 12 hours of work and treated the remaining 12 hours as unpaid sleep or leisure time. IHCC failed to provide adequate sleeping facilities to many employees, and required them to respond to residents’ needs during the sleep and frequently interrupted leisure time. IHCC’s failure to pay workers for any of that time led to additional FLSA minimum wage and overtime violations. The division found IHCC was aware of its obligation to pay the required minimum wage and overtime premium but failed to do so. They also violated FLSA recordkeeping requirements by not maintaining adequate and accurate records of their employees.
On April 21, a consent judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland resolved nearly four years of extensive litigation. The court’s final order requires the employers to pay $466,642 and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the 27 current and former employees, as well as a $16,716 civil money penalty for the willful nature of the overtime violations. The court also enjoins the employers permanently from violating the FLSA.
