Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- More than 200 health care workers at 13 Southern California residential care facilities are due $637,000 in back wages following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Investigators found that the separate facilities, owned jointly by Emmanuel and Ofelia David, did not pay overtime when employees worked an aggregate of more than 40 hours at two or more facilities during the same workweek.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employers pay non-exempt employees no less than one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

“The President and I are committed to protecting workers’ overtime rights and ensuring that they receive all the wages they have earned,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “The workers in this case were not getting their full pay, and I am glad that we were able to recover $637,000 in back wages for them.”

Employees, who worked at facilities in Lancaster, Banning, Beaumont, Cherry Valley, Lakeview Terrace, Torrance and Los Angeles, received the back pay Dec. 15 for work performed between December 2002 and July 2005. The firm worked with the department to resolve the issues identified in the investigation and confirmed that measures are now in place to ensure that all hours worked by employees at multiple facilities are combined for overtime pay.

The facilities where employees worked are: Beaumont Care Center, Banning Healthcare, Cherry Valley Healthcare, Palm Grove Healthcare, Miravilla Care Center, St. Andrews Healthcare, Heritage Rehabilitation Center, Harbor Care Center, Antelope Valley Healthcare, Antelope Valley Care Center, Vermont Care Center, Good Shepherd Care Center, and Country Manor Healthcare.

The Wage and Hour Division offers a user-friendly Web site to help employers properly pay and classify their employees. Employers and employees can visit www.wagehour.dol.gov for more information about the FLSA, including an on-line tool for determining overtime eligibility -- the elaws FLSA Overtime Security Advisor -- at www.dol.gov/elaws/overtime.htm.

Information about the FLSA is also available from the East Los Angeles Wage and Hour office at (626) 966-0478 or the Department of Labor's toll-free help line at 1-866-4US-WAGE (1-866-487-9243).

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