Pensacola home healthcare provider pays more than $93K in back wages to seven workers after US Department of Labor investigation reveals violations

PENSACOLA, FL – Among some of the nation’s lowest-paid workers, home healthcare aides remain especially dependent on their employers to pay them all of their legally earned wages. When an employer shortchanges these workers, the impact hits employees and their families hard as it did those employed by a Pensacola-based home healthcare provider.

A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation of the Chris Lewis Agency LLC found that the employer failed to pay employees working at two 24-hour care homes for all of the hours they worked. Employees working 16-hour days were paid for only 12 or 13 hours. By doing so, the agency violated overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The division also found Chris Lewis’ failure to maintain accurate daily and weekly records of their employees’ work hours violated FLSA recordkeeping requirements.

The investigation led the division to recover $93,932 in back wages for seven workers.

“When employers fail to meet their obligations to pay essential workers all the wages they have earned, it hits our lowest wage-earners the hardest, significantly impacting their ability to earn a living,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “Other employers in this industry should use the outcome of this investigation as an opportunity to review their own pay practices, ensure they comply with the law, and avoid violations like those found in this case.”

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.