Home Health & Hospice Week

Illinois provider must cough up $1.1 million.

Now’s the time to double-check that your payment policies and procedures are in line with what’s required by the Department of Labor, or you may end up in the headlines.

Why? “From 2020 to 2022, [DOL] Wage and Hour Division investigators identified violations in nearly 89 percent of more than 1,200 home care and nursing care investigations,” the DOL says in a release. “These reviews led the agency to recover more than $16.2 million in back wages and liquidated damages for more than 13,000 workers. In addition, the division assessed employers a total of $156,404 in civil money penalties,” it adds.

WHD has announced a flurry of recent cases involving agencies underpaying their workers, particularly aides and personal care attendants. Take a look at the latest batch:

In Illinois: A WHD investigation found that Lee McDevitt, owner and operator of Midwest Home Care in Mattoon, paid a daily rate to caregivers who worked 24-hour shifts regardless of the number of hours they worked, resulting in minimum wage and overtime violations, the DOL says in a release.

McDevitt also failed to track an employee’s hours worked, including sleep time interruptions, accurately. “By failing to do so, Midwest Home Care’s sleep credit was invalid,” the DOL notes.

A federal court has ordered McDevitt and Midwest to pay 69 workers $1.1 million in back wages and damages, the DOL says. “The resolution of this matter shows that the U.S. Department of Labor will take all necessary actions, including litigation, to hold employers accountable when they fail to respect worker rights and protections,” Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda says in the release.

In Pennsylvania: A WHD investigation found that Lucky’s Home Care in Aliquippa and owner Cheryl McMiller denied 23 home health aides overtime wages, DOL says in a release. Lucky’s and McMiller occasionally paid some workers for overtime, but they capped the number of hours for which the employees could earn overtime wages, and then reverted back to paying straight-time hourly rates for hours worked over the cap, it days.

A federal court has ordered Lucky’s and McMiller to pay more than $285,000 in back wages and damages, and the DOL assessed a $21,500 civil money penalty for the willful violation, it says.

“The U.S. Department of Labor will not hesitate to litigate against an employer in federal district court to recover unpaid wages and liquidated damages owed to workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Deputy Regional Solicitor Samantha Thomas says in the release. “This case shows healthcare industry employers that noncompliance with federal law can lead to legal consequences.”

In North Carolina: A WHD investigation found that Gentle Shepherd Care in Charlotte failed to combine hours when employees worked at multiple locations during the same workweek, thereby not paying workers overtime for hours worked over 40, the DOL says in a release. Gentle Shepherd paid nearly $200,000 in back wages and damages to 98 workers, according to the DOL.

Also in North Carolina: Greenville’s At Home Personal Care paid employees straight-time rates for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek; failed to pay for travel time between clients’ homes; and didn’t keep accurate records, the DOL says. At Home paid more than $187,000 in back wages and damages to 28 workers, according to a release.