News Release
Federal investigation recovers nearly $100K in back wages for 53 home healthcare workers after US Department of Labor found overtime violations
DANVILLE, VA – Fifty-three personal care aides and certified nursing assistants of a Danville home healthcare agency worked overtime hours to provide clients with compassionate care and a better quality of life, but their employer failed to pay them $99,427 for the additional time worked – overtime back wages the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered for them.
A recent investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Angel Wings Home Health Inc. violated the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The division determined that Angel Wings failed to pay the personal care aides and nursing assistants time-and-a-half when they worked over 40 in a workweek, as the FLSA requires. The employer also failed to maintain accurate records of total weekly hours worked, as required by federal law.
“Overtime and other wage violations are all too common among home healthcare workers. Employers’ failure to abide by the law and pay wages fairly harms these essential workers who serve their communities by providing critical care services during a national health care crisis,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Roberto Melendez in Richmond. “We will hold employers accountable when they fail to uphold their legal obligations.”
Angel Wings Home Health provides personal and respite care, feeding/meal preparation, household duties, laundry, errands, and companionship services between the Danville and South Boston areas.
The Wage and Hour Division provides employers with compliance assistance tools in a variety of languages, including an interactive E-laws advisor and a complete library of free, downloadable workplace posters. In addition, the Division’s Community Outreach Resource Planning Specialists (CORPS) conduct ongoing outreach activities to educate stakeholders, including employers, employees, business and labor groups, and professional associations, among others, with accessible, easy-to-understand information about their rights and responsibilities. To find your local Wage and Hour Office, please visit Wage & Hour Local Offices.
Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.
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.
