Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Heatherwood Nursing and Subacute Center, Inc. of Newport, R.I., and South County Nursing and Subacute Center, Inc. of North Kingstown, R.I. have agreed to pay 113 employees over $135,000 in back wages following an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department that found violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

According to Dianne Miller, district director for the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division in Hartford, the investigations of the jointly owned and operated facilities (which may have since been sold) covered the period March 27, 2004 through March 25, 2006. Conducted by the Providence area office of the Wage and Hour Division, the investigations found that both employers failed to pay employees for hours worked over 40 in a work week. In addition, the nursing homes failed to maintain proper records of total daily and weekly hours worked and some records were not kept at all.

Miller noted that nursing staff routinely worked through their unpaid meal periods, which resulted in unpaid hours worked and, subsequently, unpaid overtime hours worked. The employers also failed to include shift differentials in overtime pay computations and incorrectly designated some employees as being exempt from coverage under the FLSA.

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

“Employers need to take care that they are in full compliance with the FLSA, especially when it comes to making sure that all employees are properly paid for all the hours they work in any workweek,” said Miller.

As a result of these investigations, the Heatherwood facility agreed to pay $63,132 in back wages to 48 employees, while the South County facility agreed to pay 65 employees $71,971 in back wages.

For more information about the requirements of the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243), contact the Providence Wage and Hour office at (401) 528-4431, or call the Wage and Hour Office in Hartford at (860) 240-4160. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

###

U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.