Ohio health care service provider for individuals with developmental disabilities pays $92K in overtime back wages to 61 employees

MAUMEE, OH – While records at Journey Through Life Care Services LLC showed the Maumee health care service provider paid employees legally required state minimum wage plus time-and-a-half for overtime, federal investigators found the employer regularly failed to pay its employees overtime wages – sometimes paying a mere 50 cents per hour more for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, Journey Through Life Care Services has paid a total of $92,275 to 61 direct support care employees in owed overtime back wages and agreed to future compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions. The division determined the employer violated the FLSA’s overtime wage requirements by generally paying workers straight time for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek.

“By assisting individuals with developmental disability with daily tasks, education and transportation, direct care workers provide dignity and hope to vulnerable clients,” said Wage and Hour District Director George Victory, in Columbus, Ohio. “Unfortunately, we continue to find employers in the health care industry violating wage and overtime laws which denies these employees their rightful and hard-earned wages.”

The Wage and Hour 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 division offices. For more information on federal wage and hour laws, visit http://www.dol.gov/whd or call the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) for more information.