Back wages of $120,321 for 36 workers were recovered from a West Columbia home healthcare provider that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found denied overtime pay to its employees.

Attentive Angels Home Care LLC in West Columbia was found to have violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements. Attentive Angels paid straight-time rates to employees who worked over 40 hours in a workweek. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that overtime pay be calculated “at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay,” the U.S. Department of Labor’s website says.

“(Attentive Angels) shortchanged 36 employees who provide companionship and personal care for seniors, people with cognitive disorders, mothers of newborns and others who need assistance, by denying them the overtime wages they earned,” the Department of Labor said.

A non-medical, family-owned, and privately operated home care company, Attentive Angels Home Care serves the elderly, disabled and homebound. It offers “thoroughly screened” staff who go into people’s homes for various services, including private duty care, companion care, homemaking, wellness, hygiene assistance, Alzheimer’s and dementia care.

“Care workers provide a vital service to our families and communities and are critical to the nation’s economy. ... They must receive all of their rightfully earned wages,” Jamie Benefiel, Wage and Hour Division district director in Columbia, South Carolina, said. “This investigation should remind other employers to ensure that they are accurately paying overtime when due and contact the Wage and Hour Division with any questions.”