Fifty workers misclassified as independent contractors by an Oliver Springs home healthcare service provider received a total of $358,675 in back wages to resolve overtime violations found in a US Department of Labor investigation. The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Servant’s Quest — which provides at-home healthcare services for the ill or elderly — violated Fair Labor Standards Act requirements by failing to pay overtime to caregivers that the employer misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees. The employer then paid the misclassified workers straight-time wages for the hours they worked in excess of 40 in a workweek, under the pretense as independent contractors, overtime rules didn’t apply to these workers.
