U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $603,882 in wages for 119 home health care workers employed by Ohio company 1st Choice Family Services Inc. at its Columbus headquarters and at locations in Reynoldsburg and Findlay.
The agency found the employer reportedly failed to pay overtime to some workers paid on a salary basis who worked more than eight hours in a day or more than 80 hours in a two-week pay period, the Department of Labor reported March 7. By law, they should have been paid time and one-half their normal rate of pay.
“Home health care workers provide vital services and perform basic living tasks for those unable to care for themselves. They help their clients and their families maintain their dignity in challenging circumstances,” Marcy Boldman, Wage and Hour district director in Des Moines, Iowa, said.
Home health care workers do essential work, but they are still sometimes denied all their rightful wages by their employer’s illegal pay practices.
1st Choice also failed to record overnight care providers’ sleep hours as hours worked, as required. These actions denied affected workers their full overtime wages and violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The Department of Labor said between 2019 and 2021, it has recovered more than $22.7 million for Midwest health care workers because of violations of worker protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
