To avoid paying employees proper overtime, the company lowered the employees' regular rates when employees worked over 40 hours in a week, paying overtime compensation according to those rates.
A consent judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor is requiring TriMED HealthCare LLC to pay $1.9 million in back wages to 433 employees, including an equal amount in liquidated damages, and a civil money penalty of more than $180,000 for willful violations.
TriMED HealthCare provides home care services in Bucks, Montgomery, Northampton, Delaware, Chester, Lehigh, Philadelphia, and surrounding counties in Pennsylvania.
An investigation by the DOL's Wage and Hour Division found that TriMED HealthCare and its owner violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. To avoid paying employees proper overtime, the company lowered the employees' regular rates when employees worked over 40 hours in a week, paying overtime compensation according to those rates. In a press release statement, it explained, "By lowering the rates, the employer concealed the fact that they paid all hours as straight time."
The pay range for direct care employees at TriMED HealthCare is $7.25 to $14 an hour.
"This is a significant recovery of back wages and liquidated damages for people who typically work for low wages and often struggle to make ends meet," Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator, Jessica Looman said in a statement. "Employers must understand that federal law requires them to respect workers' rights to be paid all of their earned wages, and that we will investigate those who fail to meet their obligations."
In addition to back wages, TriMED HealthCare will also have to pay an equal amount in liquidated damages to employees, along with a civil money penalty of $180,141 due to the "willful nature" of its violations. The Wage and Hour Division also found that employers paid some administrative employees straight time when they'd worked overtime, failed to pay direct care workers for travel between clients' homes, and didn't keep records as they're required to do.
"Employers who intentionally disregard the law and fail to pay workers their hard-earned wages will find that we will use every tool available, including enforcement actions in federal court, to hold them accountable," Seema Nanda, the department's solicitor of labor, said in a statement.
Jasmyne Ray is the revenue cycle editor at HealthLeaders.