The DOL is looking out for wage and hour law violators
HR must follow up on every employee concern about FLSA overtime – regardless of how incidental it may seem.
Here’s a case where low-wage workers felt they were owed just an hour or two of overtime every couple of weeks. When the employer ignored their concerns the workers called a toll-free Department of Labor hotline.
Facts of the case
Employees at a nursing home routinely worked just over 40 hours a week (in some cases only an hour or two over 40). But instead of paying these workers time and a half overtime, the employer fudged its payroll records: By rounding hours down here and there, neglecting to maintain thorough records, and denying personal accountability for payroll-related record keeping, the employer evaded workers’ complaints about their pay, month after month.
Investigation leads to FLSA overtime lawsuit
After a few of the workers complained, the DOL launched an wage and hour law investigation and audited the nursing home’s payroll records. Investigators spoke with employees and finally got to the bottom of the matter.
Based on the investigation’s findings, the DOL filed a lawsuit against the nursing home for FLSA overtime violations. The nursing home settled by agreeing to pay employees a total of $59,464 in back wages, interest and damages.
Cite: DOL v. Reconstruction Home, Inc.
