A Michigan assisted living facility was ordered to pay healthcare workers more than $15,000 due to alleged Fair Labor Standards Act violations.
The owner of Safe Haven Assisted Living of Haslett in Haslett, Mich., was ordered to pay $15,238 in back wages and damages to six healthcare workers, according to a Jan. 17 news release. The U.S. Department of Labor alleged the assisted living healthcare workers had not been paid for working when their duties required they continue providing care during meal breaks.
"Despite knowing her obligation to pay employees who missed their meal breaks to provide patient care and overcome staffing shortages, the owner of Safe Haven Assisted Living of Haslett chose to ignore the law and the reminders of a facility manager," Wage and Hour District Director Mary O'Rourke said in the release. “Caregivers who deliver essential services to help people unable to care for themselves are among our nation’s lowest paid workers, and these workers depend upon on every dollar earned to support themselves and their families.”
A Wage and Hour Division investigation of Safe Haven payroll records from Aug. 16, 2020, to Dec. 12, 2021, found the assisted living facility and its owner, Tamesha Porter, violated Fair Labor Standards Act overtime provisions, according to the news release.
The court also ordered payment of a $3,618 civil penalty, the release reported.
"The Wage and Hour Division encourages workers to contact us if they believe their employer is not paying them all of their earned wages," O'Rourke said in the news release.
