Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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NEW YORK -- HHCNY Inc., based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and doing business as Staff Blue, has agreed to pay 129 registered nurses $85,000 in overtime back wages to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division New York City District Office revealed that, between Jan. 11, 2003, and April 29, 2006, this nursing placement agency often required registered nurses, being paid by the hour, to work over 40 hours in a workweek without properly compensating them for overtime.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage as well as one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. The law also requires that accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.

“Workers covered by the FLSA are clearly entitled to be paid properly for all the hours they work,” said Philip Jacobson, the Wage and Hour Division’s district director in Manhattan. “Employers, including staffing agencies such as this one, should understand that the Labor Department will make every effort to ensure that they live up to their obligations under the law to employees.”

The Labor Department filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The defendant agreed to entry of the consent judgment without admitting to the allegations.

On March 27, Judge Carol B. Amon signed a consent judgment ordering Staff Blue to pay the back wages; maintain proper employment records; advise employees, in English and Spanish, of their rights under the FLSA; and place workplace posters where visible to all employees informing them of those rights. The employer is prohibited from taking retaliatory action against any employee who exercises his or her rights under the law and from future violations of the FLSA.

The Wage and Hour Division’s New York City District Office investigated this case, and the Department of Labor’s New York Regional Solicitor’s Office, also in Manhattan, handled the litigation. For more information about the requirements of the FLSA, call the department’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

Chao v. HHCNY Inc.
Civil Action Number: 1:07-CV-01142-CBA-VVP

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