Violations include employee misclassification, failure to pay overtime as required

DALLAS – Home healthcare industry employers seek workers willing to work hard and long hours to meet the daily living and care needs of clients – some with limited mobility – in the comfort of their homes. Too often, the U.S. Department of Labor finds employers like four Texas and Louisiana providers who fail to hold up their part of the bargain by not paying nearly 600 employees all the wages they’ve earned.

A home care industry enforcement effort by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the employers’ pay practices violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. Violations included the following:

• Ace Primary Homecare, Inc., in Pharr, Texas, adjusted the employees’ rate of pay to make it appear they paid the overtime premium for hours over 40 in a workweek when, in fact, the employer paid straight time for the overtime hours worked. The division calculated that 400 employees were owed $841,244 in overtime back wages.
• Guardian Angels Care Services, Inc., in Alexandria, Louisiana, misclassified workers as independent contractors and paid straight-time wages for all hours worked. The division calculated the employer owed 129 affected workers a total of $160,477 in overtime back wages.
• Fernandez Care Assistance LLC in San Juan, Texas, did not pay the additional overtime premium to 47 hourly employees for hours over 40 in a workweek, and owed them $122,944 in overtime back wages.
• Association for...

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