The US Department of Labor obtained a default judgment to recover $703,609 in back wages and liquidated damages for 38 employees who were denied overtime pay by a Virginia home healthcare company and its owner, who also retaliated against workers for cooperating with federal investigators.
The judgment follows an investigation by the Department’s Wage and Hour Division that found the employer and the company’s owner willfully failed to maintain accurate records of all hours worked and paid straight time for hours worked over 40 in a work week, failing to pay the required overtime premium. The division also learned that the employer told workers not to speak with Department investigators, and falsified employees’ signatures on official payment and payroll receipt records to make it appear as though they had made the payment. These actions violated the anti-retaliation, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The court’s action follows the filing of an enforcement action and a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on June 1, 2022, by the Department’s Office of the Solicitor to enforce the workers’ rights under the FLSA, recover owed wages, prevent the company and its owner from obstructing the investigation, retaliating against employees who cooperated with investigators, demanding kickbacks of back wages found due by the division, and requiring the employer to provide payroll records. On June 30, 2022, the court granted the Department’s preliminary injunction motion.
Issue:
The FLSA sets minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards for employment subject to its provisions. Unless exempt, covered employees must be paid at least the minimum wage and not less than one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for overtime hours worked. Every covered employer must keep certain records for each non-exempt worker. The Act requires no particular form for the records, but does require that the records include certain identifying information about the employee and data about the hours worked and the wages earned. The law requires this information to be accurate. Section 15(a)(3) of the FLSA states that it is a violation for any person to “discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this Act, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding, or has served or is about to serve on an industry committee.”
Discussion Points:
- Review your policies and procedures on fair wages, overtime pay eligibility, and recordkeeping. Also review your policy for prevention of retaliation in the workplace. Update if needed.
- Train all staff with responsibility for determining fair wages, overtime pay eligibility, and recordkeeping so that they are knowledgeable about your policies and procedures to ensure they comply with federal and state requirements. Document that these trainings occurred, and file each signed document in the employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit to ensure compliance with minimum wage laws, and that overtime pay eligibility and recordkeeping are accurate and being reported correctly. Also audit staff understanding to ensure that they are aware of your policy of nonretaliation in the workplace and how to report any concerns.
