A Virginia based medical staffing agency was found to have intentionally violated federal laws and denied 1,105 certified nurse’s aides, licensed practical nurses, and registered nurses their rightfully earned overtime wages. The staffing agency has been ordered to pay more than $7.2 million in back wages and liquidated damages.
The federal investigation determined that since at least August 18, 2015, the staffing agency willfully misclassified aides and nurses as independent contractors. This misclassification allowed the staffing agency to pay the workers straight time wages instead of time and a half when they worked over 40 hours in a workweek. The staffing agency also failed to maintain accurate records of total weekly hours worked. These two actions are a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The judgement in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia-Norfolk Division requires that the medical staffing agency pay at least $3,519,716 in back wages and at least $3,619,716 in liquidated damages to 1,105 employees. The court ordered the department’s Solicitor of Labor to update the back wages to the present, which will likely increase the back wage and liquidated damage amounts substantially. The court’s decision ends litigation filed in 2018 by the Department after the staffing agency refused to pay back wages owed or come into compliance after the investigation.
For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Additional information, including a search tool regarding the Wage and Hour Division can be accessed here.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
The Fair Labor Standards Act must be adhered to at all times within your facility. It is imperative that all employees who are responsible for determining rates of pay, deciding overtime pay eligibility, and performing recordkeeping of wages are well trained in the Fair Labor Standards Act. When overtime is required within your facility, it is critical that all federal laws are adhered to for the employee working overtime. Violations of the Act can result in fines and other penalties.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies and procedures on fair wages, overtime pay eligibility, and recordkeeping. Update your policies as needed.
- Train all staff who have responsibility for ensuring fair wages, overtime pay eligibility, and recordkeeping about your policy and procedures, and ensure they demonstrate competence with the requirements. Train all staff who have responsibility for supervising and scheduling minors about the requirements that must be met when you employ minors in your setting. Document that these trainings occurred, and file each signed document in the employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit to ensure that fair wages, overtime pay eligibility, and the recordkeeping of hours worked are accurate and being reported correctly. Also, when employing minors, ensure that all employment requirements and limitations on hours worked are followed.
