Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Health care agency American Private Duty owes $329,237 in unpaid overtime wages to 73 employees, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found. The firm did not pay required overtime wages as required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) despite workweeks that sometimes neared 60 hours. It also failed to keep complete records of overtime hours worked.

“We’ve been looking closely at the health care industry for wage and hour violations,” said George Friday Jr., western regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division. “In this case the employees were not properly compensated for their overtime hours, and I am pleased we were able to recover more than $329,000 in back wages for them.”

American Private Duty contracts though MediCal to provide licensed vocational nurses, certified nursing assistants, and certified home health aides to patients’ homes throughout Los Angeles County. The investigation discovered that between Jan. 6, 2004, and Jan. 5, 2006, American Private Duty paid certain employees a fixed daily rate that failed to account for overtime hours worked. Some employees are due as much as $49,000

Employees covered by the FLSA overtime provisions must be paid not less than one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. A day rate compensation system is legal as long as the employer identifies overtime hours and compensates workers the additional overtime pay. American Private Duty, headquartered in Studio City, has begun paying the affected workers’ back wages in installments, and should complete the payments by the end of July.

The Los Angeles office of the Wage and Hour Division became aware of the employer’s pay practice through the Employment Education and Outreach (EMPLEO) initiative. The EMPLEO partnership assists Spanish-speaking workers and employers with work-related concerns through an alliance of organizations and government agencies. This alliance, which includes the Wage and Hour Division, has established a local toll-free help line, (877) 55-AYUDA, or (877) 552-9832. Callers to the help line are assisted by volunteers who refer them to the appropriate EMPLEO partner for assistance.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Los Angeles Wage and Hour office at (213) 894-6375 or the Department of Labor's toll-free help line at 1-866-4US WAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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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.