Federal judge orders healthcare companion company to pay 34 workers $95K in wages, damages, following US Labor Department investigation

Employers:    Great Lakes Care Companions Inc., Juan G. Salazar, owner

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent order and judgment

Courts:           U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan 

Investigation findings: On Oct. 13, 2023, Judge Mark A. Goldsmith entered an agreed consent order and judgment requiring Great Lakes Care Companions Inc., and its owner, Juan G. Salazar to pay a total of  $95,074 in back wages, liquidated damages, and interest to 34 workers. Prior to the execution of the consent order and judgment, the company paid $31,791 of the back wages owed. The company and Salazar agreed to pay the remaining amount including $1,225 in interest by Sept. 20, 2024.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division alleged the Filion, Michigan home health care services provider failed to pay care workers overtime at time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek from at least Aug. 1, 2019 to July 31, 2021, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

The company and Salazar are also required to distribute informational materials to employees concerning their rights under the FLSA and were ordered not to violate the act in the future.

The department’s office of the solicitor filed a complaint on Nov. 30, 2022.

Quote: “Healthcare companions provide valuable services that allow their clients to remain in their homes and maintain their dignity. This is historically an industry that has low-paid workers and for these employees each dollar earned is significant to them and their family’s economic survival,” said Wage and Hour Deputy Regional Administrator – Midwest Region Timolin Mitchell. “Every worker deserves to be paid for hours they work and the overtime they have earned. Employers must know the wage laws that apply to their employees and pay them accordingly.”

Background: 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 and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish –to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

United States Department of Labor v. Great Lakes Care Inc., Juan Salazar

Case number 1:22-cv-12903-MAG-PTM