Four medical facilities in Providence and West Greenwich, R.I., must pay $175,000 to 103 employees after violations of federal overtime requirements investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The consent agreement comes after a lawsuit filed against the four Ocean State facilities and their owner and operator, and it includes a $50,000 civil penalty, according to a May 6 release. A lawsuit was filed in January 2019 against North Providence Primary Care Associates Inc., North Providence Urgent Care Inc., Center of New England Primary Care Inc., Center of New England Urgent Care Inc., Dr. Anthony Farina Jr. and Brenda DelSignore in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
“Sadly, failing to pay overtime accurately is a common violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Donald Epifano, Wage and Hour Division district director in Providence, R.I., said, according to the release. “Health care workers that provide essential services to the public deserve to be paid the wages they have earned. The pandemic has led many essential workers – including people working in healthcare – to find employment that better suits their needs. Business owners and managers must understand that failures like these can hurt their organization’s ability to recruit and retain the workers they need.”
The litigation’s outcome should remind workers and employers that the U.S. Department of Labor will take appropriate action, on behalf of workers when employers deny them the wages that the Fair Labor Standards Act requires, the department's regional solicitor of Labor in Boston, Maia Fisher, said in the release.
The aging population in the U.S. will increase the demand for health care services, according to the news release. The Department of Labor said the Bureau of Labor Statistics found 679,000 healthcare and social services workers had left their positions as of that date, a December 2021 report said.
