Steadfast Medical Staffing 'willfully' misclassified workers and shortchanged their overtime pay, U.S. Department of Labor says.
A Norfolk, Virginia, medical staffing agency that intentionally denied more than 1,000 RNs, licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and certified nursing aides their rightfully earned overtime wages, has been ordered by a federal court to pay more than $7.2 million in back wages and liquidated damages.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia-Norfolk Division ordered Medical Staffing of America LLC—doing business as Steadfast Medical Staffing—to pay at least $3,619,716 in back wages and at least $3,619,716 in liquidated damages to 1,105 employees, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The court ordered the department’s Solicitor of Labor to update the back wages to the present, which likely will increase the back wages and liquidated damages amounts substantially.
The action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and litigation by the Solicitor of Labor.
The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division investigation determined that since at least August 18, 2015, Steadfast Medical Staffing, a healthcare industry employment agency that provides independent medical personnel nationwide, willfully misclassified the nurses and aides as independent contractors.
By misclassifying the nurses and aides, the medical staffing agency paid them straight-time wages instead of time-and-a-half when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, according to the Department of Labor.
Steadfast Medical Staffing also failed to maintain accurate records of total weekly hours worked. Both actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
"When employers misclassify employees as independent contractors and fail to pay workers their hard-earned wages, the U.S. Department of Labor will hold them legally accountable," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. "The court's judgment means we can finally recover these essential workers' wages."
The court’s decision ends litigation filed in 2018 and in 2019 by the department after Steadfast Medical Staffing refused to pay back wages owed, and come into compliance after the investigation.
"The court sent an unequivocal message to Steadfast and other healthcare industry employers that the Solicitor of Labor and the Wage and Hour Division will work together to recover stolen wages when employers violate the law," said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda.
"The U.S. Department of Labor will not hesitate to bring legal action, pursuing all available remedies, when it finds that an employer has willfully violated the law."
“When employers misclassify employees as independent contractors and fail to pay workers their hard-earned wages, the U.S. Department of Labor will hold them legally accountable.”
U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh
Carol Davis is the Nursing Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Steadfast Medical Staffing of Norfolk, Virginia, misclassified the workers as independent contractors to avoid overtime pay.
More than 1,000 nurses and aides were shortchanged by the staffing agency.
Back wages will be updated to the present, likely substantially increasing the dollar amount won.