The US Department of Labor has recovered $373,471 in back wages and damages for 23 caregivers after an investigation found a Bay Area staffing agency denied overtime wages to workers, some of whom worked 12 to 16 hours a day. Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Creative Living Solutions Inc. in Union City paid employees straight-time rates for all hours worked, including overtime hours. By doing so, the employer, whose home care workers serve older adults and people with disabilities, failed to pay the required time-and-a-half overtime rates for hours over 40 in a workweek, a Fair Labor Standards Act violation. The company and owner Nafisa Mohseni accepted the division’s findings, agreed to pay the back wages owed and changed their pay practices to avoid future FLSA violations. In addition to recovering $186,735 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, the department assessed the employer $17,227 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of their violations.
