Home care aides tend to the needs of people when they are most vulnerable, often putting their own health at risk. A US Department of Labor investigation found that an Atlanta-area home care service failed to pay these essential workers the overtime they earned and are legally due. The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Able Mabel Assisted In-Home Care Services Inc. — operating as Able Mabel Home Care — misclassified home healthcare aides as independent contractors and failed to pay them overtime when they worked over 40 hours in a week, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The investigation revealed that the employer paid the misclassified workers their straight-time rate of pay for each hour they worked. As a result, the division has recovered $235,501 in back wages for 131 workers.
