Caregivers working for an Idaho home care organization were awarded $88,185 in back pay and liquidated damages after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.
Allegiant SL LLC, a provider of services for adults with developmental impairments, failed to deliver 90 employees their lawfully earned salaries, including overtime, according to a Nov. 1 news release.
“Too often, unscrupulous employers in the healthcare industry violate federal wage and hour laws knowingly and deprive their employees of their hard-earned wages,” Carrie Aguilar, district director in Portland, Ore., said in the release.
A federal inquiry found the employer, operating as Allegiant Supported Living in Nampa, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by paying some caregivers straight-time rates for hours exceeding 40 in a workweek, the release reported.
Aguilar said the Labor Department will hold employers accountable for wage theft to protect essential workers like these and to recover wages owed to them, according to the release.
Failing to pay employees their full wages is likely to make it more difficult to retain and attract workers than employers who respect rights and protections as healthcare industry employers struggle to recruit workers for open positions, Aguilar said, according to the release.
