US Department of Labor finds Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center required employees to work after clocking out, manipulated timecards

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas hospital that required workers to complete necessary paperwork without pay after their daily shifts ended also manipulated employee time cards to avoid paying overtime, a federal investigation has found.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center – a subsidiary of Universal Health Services Inc. – violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay employees for all hours that they worked. The employer also willfully manipulated workers’ timecards in an attempt to avoid paying overtime by reducing the total number of work hours recorded.

Following the investigation, the division recovered $145,402 in back wages for 23 employees. The division also assessed Centennial with $19,090 in penalties for its willful violations and cited the employer for their failure to maintain accurate records of employees’ hours worked.

“Workers must be paid all of their hard-earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Higinio Ramos in Las Vegas. “Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center shortchanged their workers and made it more difficult for them to provide for themselves and their families. The employer also gained an unfair competitive advantage over law-abiding employers. Other employers should use the outcome of this investigation as an opportunity to evaluate their own pay practices to ensure they comply with the law.”

Universal Health Services Inc. – one of the nation’s largest healthcare management companies – owns and operates Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center. Based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, UHS manages 400 acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities and ambulatory centers across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.K.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.