FORT WAYNE, IN – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found an Indiana provider of home healthcare services violated federal law when it failed to pay workers for time spent driving between clients’ homes, leading to the department’s recovery of $126,162 in back wages for 95 workers.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that the failure of SHAS Inc. – which operates as Sunshine Home Health Care – to record and pay for travel time resulted in minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“All too often, we find healthcare industry employers with systemic violations – like failing to pay for employee’s time traveling between jobs accurately – that deprive workers of all their hard-earned wages and benefits,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Patricia Lewis in Indianapolis. “Healthcare workers provide skilled nursing and assistance with essential daily living tasks and enable thousands of Americans to remain in the comfort of their own homes.”

Investigators determined the Fort Wayne employer violated the FLSA by doing the following:

• Failing to pay workers for travel time between client’s home which led some workers to be paid less than minimum wage per hour worked.
• Applying overtime rules for salaried employees incorrectly, and denying workers overtime wages due.
• Not maintaining an accurate record of hours worked.

In April 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the ...

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