U.S. Department of Labor Recovers $81,399 in Back Wages For 45 Employees of Columbus, Ohio, Nursing Home

COLUMBUS, OH – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Chelsea Health Care LLC –has paid $81,399 in back wages to 45 employees for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime requirements at its Columbus, Ohio, nursing home facility.

The employer violated the FLSA’s overtime wage requirements when it paid licensed practical nurses and health aides straight time plus an additional $1 for each hour they worked beyond 40 in a workweek, instead of the required time-and-one-half the normal rate of pay for overtime. WHD’s investigation found the employer’s payroll company advised them to implement this unlawful pay method as a cost-saving measure. The business came into compliance immediately upon advice of their legal counsel and through the WHD’s investigation. 

“Employers must educate themselves on labor laws,” said Wage and Hour District Director Marcy Boldman in Des Moines, Iowa. “Payroll companies are a resource for employers, but the pay practices implemented by the employer are ultimately their own responsibility. Covered employers must pay overtime at time-and-one-half employees’ regular rates. The Wage and Hour Division works to ensure employers comply with federal labor laws and employees receive all the wages they have legally earned. We encourage employers to contact us for guidance and use the wide variety of compliance assistance tools and information that we offer to them.”

The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos and confidential calls to local WHD offices.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers that discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.

WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation's workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.