Modesto residential care facilities to pay employees $135K in back wages after US Department of Labor finds minimum wage, overtime violations

MODESTO, CA – The owner of eight residential care facilities in Modesto will pay $135,092 in back wages to 56 employees and $27,872 in civil penalties after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found widespread violations of minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The division assessed civil penalties due to the repeat nature of the violations.

Investigators found Golden Age Home Care and its owners paid caregivers flat rates per day, regardless of the number of hours they worked per day or per week. By doing so, the employer violated federal minimum wage requirements when those rates failed to cover all the hours employees worked at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Overtime violations occurred when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, but the employer failed to pay them overtime in addition to their day rates. Employer time records failed to capture interruptions to workers’ sleep time, and hours worked by employees taking required training that Golden Age failed to pay for. Golden Age also failed to keep accurate records of employees’ personal information, weekly hours worked and weekly amounts paid. The employer also failed to display the FLSA poster, as required.

“Employees in the health care industry give so much of themselves on the job every day taking care of our loved ones, we will ensure that employers pay them every cent of their hard-earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Cesar Avila in Sacramento. “The Wage and Hour Division continues to protect the nation’s workforce by ensuring employers comply with the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Our work levels the playing field for employers that play by the rules.”

The division 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 Wage and Hour Division offices. Learn more about the FLSA. Contact the Wage and Hour Division toll-free at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) for more information.