US Department of Labor recovers $174K in back wages for 50 caregivers employed by Fayetteville independent living service that failed to pay overtime

Employer:                              CAH Inc., operating as Community Alternative Housing

Investigation site:                  2905 Breezewood Ave.

                                                Suite 104 

                                                Fayetteville, NC 28303

Investigation findings: Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the North Carolina home health care service paid employees straight-time rates for all hours worked. By doing so, the employer failed to pay the employees a time-and-a-half premium for hours over 40 in a workweek, an overtime violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Back Wages Recovered: $174,751 for 50 workers                                      

Quote: “All workers deserve the wages they legally earned, including those who provide essential care to people in our communities,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Employers with questions about their obligations should contact us for free guidance that could help them avoid paying a significant amount of back wages and – as in the case of this employer – work cooperatively to correct violations found as soon as they are discovered.”

Background: CAH Inc. is non-profit that provides day programs, residential services, community services and independent living services to children, adolescents and adults.

The FLSA requires that most employees in the U.S. be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and workers’ rights, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

Employers and workers can call division staff confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from, and the department can speak with callers confidentially in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s new, free Timesheet App for android devices, available in English and Spanish, to help track work hours and pay.