US Department of Labor recovers $314K in back wages, damages from nursing care service provider that denied overtime to 91 Mississippi workers

GREENVILLE, MS – The paychecks of 91 nurses and others employed by a Greenville staffing agency now include all the wages they rightfully earned, after an investigation by the U.S. Department Labor stopped the agency from denying them overtime pay.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigation found that Prime Care Nursing Inc. paid employees straight-time rates instead of required overtime rates for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The investigation recovered $314,211 in back wages and liquidated damages for the affected workers, including some who worked as many as 84 hours per week.

“Our investigations often find unscrupulous employers depriving workers — who provide vital services to people in need — of their hard-earned wages,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. “When employers violate workers’ rights, they make it harder for them to provide for themselves and their families. The Department of Labor will hold employers accountable when they mistakenly think they can violate these rights.”

Located in Jackson and Greenville, Prime Care Nursing provides nursing care staffing throughout Mississippi serving hospitals, nursing homes, patients in their homes, hospice agencies and rehabilitation centers. Prime Care Nursing workers include registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and caregivers.

As the aging U.S. population grows and demand for health care increases, employment in a variety of healthcare occupations is projected to grow 13 percent from 2021 to 2031 – faster than the average for all occupations – adding about two million jobs.

The Wage and Hour Division provides multiple tools to help employers understand their responsibilities and offers confidential compliance assistance to anyone with questions about how to comply with the law. Workers can call the division confidentially with questions – regardless of where they are from – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

For information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit the Wage and Hour Division website to find fact sheets on nurses and exemptions under the FLSA and nursing care facilities under the FLSA. Use the division’s search tool if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, now available in English and Spanish for Android and iOS devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.