A dozen live-in workers who provide seniors and persons with disabilities needed medical and other attention at Pleasanton, Calif.-based Serene Care, will share more than $176,000 in back wages and damages after a US Labor Dept. probe found their employer had allowed minimum wage and overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the agency said.
“Workers who provide for our loved ones around-the-clock at residential care facilities deserve to be compensated fairly and lawfully,” said Susana Blanco, district director of the Wage and Hour Division’s office in San Francisco in a statement Tuesday. “Other employers in this industry, who may be shortchanging their workers this way, should take note and take corrective action immediately.”
The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigators determined that the owners of three Serene Care facilities failed to pay their live-in employees at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The employer paid employees a flat daily rate, which was not enough to cover the minimum hourly wage when divided by the number of hours they worked. The firm also failed to pay employees legally required overtime at time and one-half for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek.
Earlier this year, the Wage and Hour Division announced that, since 2011, its ongoing enforcement initiative has found Bay Area residential care providers have underpaid their workers by millions of dollars.
Enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, the FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt workers are due at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus one-and-one-half times their regular wages for hours worked beyond 40 per workweek. Employers also must maintain accurate time and payroll records. Employers must be aware that they are required to comply with all laws that apply to their businesses, including federal, state and local labor laws.
For more information about federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.
