Washington residential care company to pay $518K in back wages, damages to 39 caregivers for minimum wage, overtime violations

Employer: Good Shepherd Home Inc., a residential care facility doing business as Good Shepherd Home, with locations in Shoreline, Washington

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Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Good Shepherd Home violated the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Specifically, the employer paid employees flat daily rates without regard to the number of hours that they actually worked. That practice resulted in minimum wage violations when those amounts fell short of $7.25 per hour, and caused overtime violations when employees worked more than 40 hours in a week yet received no additional pay. Workers typically worked 12- to 24-hour shifts.  Investigators also found that this employer failed to keep accurate records of hours worked, in violation of the FLSA’s recordkeeping provisions.

Resolution: Good Shepherd Home will pay $259,030 in back wages plus an equal, additional amount in damages, totaling $518,060 to 39 underpaid caregivers.

Quote: “The dedicated caregivers at these adult family homes work long hours providing for the health and comfort of their elderly and disabled residents,” said Jeanette Aranda, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Seattle. “Employers must pay their employees for all of the time they put in on the job- paying a day rate or a salary does not mean these facilities can ignore their legal obligation to pay minimum wage and overtime. As the resolution of this case illustrates, we will continue to use every enforcement tool available to ensure that such workers take home every penny that they rightfully earn.”  

Information: For more information about wages and residential care facilities, please consult the following fact sheet: https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs33.htm

For more information about federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

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