US Department of Labor finds home care services provider failed to pay workers overtime; recovers $57K in back wages for 29 employees

DALLAS – Twenty-nine workers who offer home care services to elderly and terminally ill clients were shortchanged by their Dallas employer’s failure to pay them overtime wages as the law requires, a federal investigation recently discovered.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found CareStaf of Dallas L.P. violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements by failing to pay overtime when employees worked over 40 hours in a workweek. The investigation recovered $57,793 in back wages for the 29 workers.

“Home care workers provide essential services to people in great need, and they deserve to be paid all of the wages they are legally due,” said Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez in Dallas. “In addition to making it harder for their workers to make ends meet, employers who fail to meet their legal wage obligations gain an unfair competitive advantage over employers who follow the law.”

“We encourage all employers in the home healthcare industry to examine their pay practices to ensure they are in compliance with federal law,” Valdez added. “Employers are invited to contact their local Wage and Hour District Office or visit our website for compliance assistance guidance.”

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.

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.