A West Virginia health center will have to pay $270,000 in past wages and liquidated damages after the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported they failed to pay proper overtime as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division concluded that Princeton Memorial Company under its subsidiary Princeton Health Care Center did not compensate employees working 12-hour shifts proper overtime pay, according to a news release.

Wage and Hour Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh said that the hospital workers were critical in taking care of Americans and the department would make sure they were fully compensated.

“Health care workers have been and continue to be some of our nation’s most essential workers. We look to them to care for us and our families, and they deserve our appreciation, respect and protection,” DuMont said. “The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring these essential workers, and all workers, are paid all of the wages they have earned.”

The DOL reported that the Fair Labor Standards Act is in charge of minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping and youth employment standards that was found to be at a rate that is not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay, according to a news release.