News Release
US Department of Labor recovers more than $500K in back wages, damages for 133 employees of El Paso home healthcare services provider
EL PASO, TX – An El Paso home healthcare and hospice service provider expected employees to work long days to care for people in need but failed to pay 133 of its employees the overtime wages they earned, the U.S. Department of Labor has found.
The investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division led to the recovery of $501,211 in overtime and liquidated damages from San Lorenzo Adult Provider and Pediatrics for the affected workers.
The division determined the employer paid the affected employers straight time for all hours worked instead of paying time and one-half the regular rate-of-pay for hours over 40 in a workweek.
“San Lorenzo Adult Provider and Pediatrics’ failure to understand the law and calculate overtime properly had costly consequences,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Evelyn Ortiz in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “An employer’s pay practices must comply with federal laws that protect workers’ rights to their full wages, including their right to be paid time and one-half their regular rate for hours over 40 per workweek.”
San Lorenzo Adult Provider and Pediatrics in El Paso specializes in providing residential care for adults that includes bathing, cleaning, cooking and other companion services.
The Wage and Hour Division enforces laws governing pay practices and other labor standards, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, and determines if employers have misclassified employees as independent contractors and denied them critical benefits and worker protections.
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. The division protects workers regardless of immigration status and can communicate with workers in more than 200 languages.
Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, which is available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.
