While nursing home workers continue to put themselves at-risk as the nation battles the ongoing pandemic, federal investigators found that the pay practices of three Oklahoma City-area nursing homes denied 129 workers all of their hard-earned wages. Investigators with the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Heritage Village Retirement Center in Holdenville, Henryetta Community Skilled Healthcare & Rehabilitation in Henryetta and Colonial Park Manor in Okemah failed to count on-site and off-site meetings, on-boarding activities, and web-based training as hours worked. When the additional hours resulted in a workweek that exceeded 40 hours, the employer should have paid the overtime rate as the Fair Labor Standards Act requires. The investigation led the division to recover $27,135 in back wages for the affected workers. The nursing homes’ operator cooperated with investigators and changed policies to require all training to be completed on-site during work hours to avoid future violations and ensure they pay workers for all hours worked.
