Two Long Beach-based home health care placement agencies were fined nearly $1.9 million for allegedly improperly misclassifying 66 home health workers as independent contractors, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office announced today.
The labor agency cited Angel Connection Nursing Care and Angel Connection Nursing Services for wage theft violations, including the alleged failure to pay 22 workers overtime wages, nine of whom the labor office said were also not paid minimum wages due.
Investigators determined that Annabelle Ricasata, the owner of Angel Connection Nursing Care, is a full-time employee of Angel Connection Nursing Services, and that she misclassified the employees as independent contractors to avoid paying required wages, workers’ compensation insurance and payroll taxes, according to the state Department of Industrial Relations.
A manager with the company did not immediately return a phone call.
The workers, the majority of whom are Pilipino immigrants, worked 24-hour shifts, six days per week for as little as $6.25 an hour with no overtime, according to the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California.
According to the labor commissioner, one of the businesses also failed to maintain workers’ compensation insurance or provide proper itemized wage statements for the misclassified employees.
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