A Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation revealed a Golden Valley, Minn., franchisee of a national home healthcare provider did not pay its certified nursing and patient care assistants overtime.
This failure was followed by an attempt to cover it up, resulting in a complaint filed by the Labor Department in federal court in Minneapolis to recover back wages and damages for the 25 employees, according to an Aug. 10 Department of Labor news release.
“All too often, we find home healthcare industry employers systemically violating overtime rules that deny workers their full hard-earned wages,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Kristin Tout in Minneapolis said in the release. “As industry employers struggle to find people to fill the jobs needed to remain competitive, they must take into account that retaining and recruiting workers is more difficult when employers fail to respect workers’ rights and pay them their full wage.”
The department sought $75,101 in back wages and an equal amount of liquidated damages for 25 of the business' employees. The company is a national chain. This investigation and complaint was filed against franchisee owner Gregory B. Getchell, who operates Amada Senior Care Twin Cities in Golden Valley, the release reported.
The investigation found Getchell paid a flat daily rate to workers who provided live-in assistance with self-care and daily living activities, which is in violation of federal law, according to the release. Getchell then manipulated employee pay records to create the appearance that the workers had received their overtime. These actions are in direct violation of the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Amada Senior Care is based in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and was founded in 2007, the release reported. The chain has more than 100 franchise locations across the United States, which offer care services for seniors and their families.
