US Department of Labor recovers $143K in wages for 90 workers in New Orleans whose employer denied them overtime

Employer name:                    United Cerebral Palsy of Greater New Orleans Inc.

Investigation site:                  New Orleans, Louisiana

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found United Cerebral Palsy of Greater New Orleans Inc. failed to pay overtime to direct service workers, wrongly claimed that its workforce qualified for the FLSA’s companionship exemption, and that its payment structure included overtime premiums, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The investigation determined the employer owed the non-exempt employees an additional one-half their regular hourly rate of pay for overtime hours.

Back wages recovered:         $143,404 in owed overtime to 90 workers

Quote: “Home healthcare workers work long hours for low pay, and they deserve every dollar they earn,” said Wage and Hour District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “This investigation of United Cerebral Palsy of Greater New Orleans Inc.’s pay practices highlights problems that remain too common in the home healthcare industry. The employer could have avoided this investigation with one phone call to the Wage and Hour Division. Instead, essential workers went without the wages they earned for far too long.”