In a stunningly broad ruling that should send shivers down the spine of every home healthcare agency that uses an independent contractor workforce, a Florida federal court ruled on April 12 that a home healthcare worker who provided in-home healthcare and companion services to elderly individuals and adults with disabilities was actually an employee, not a contractor. As a result of this misclassification finding, the worker will be entitled to three years’ worth of unpaid overtime wages, plus liquidated damages in an amount double her unpaid wages owed – not to mention the door is now open for similarly situated workers to line up at the courthouse steps as well. This finding also opens the employer to risks of related consequences with the IRS and under other employment laws not before the Court. What can your business learn from this dramatic development to avoid facing the same consequences?
Home Healthcare Worker Achieves Significant Victory
In the case of Mason v. Pathfinders for Independence, Inc., Janet Mason worked for more than three years, from April 2015 until November 2018, as both a personal support staff member (live-in companion) and as a support living coach for Pathfinder clients in the Tampa area. She was classified by her agency as an independent contractor, thereby not entitled to receive overtime wages if she worked more than 40 hours in a one-week pay period. If she had been classified as an employee, of course, she would have been entitled to earn...
MANILA, Philippines — Individuals who started and deliberately spread rumors that the government will place the country in an energy lockdown should face consequences as such actions threaten nati...