US Department of Labor offers webinar to help employers understand workers’ rights, reduce wage violations in Southeast’s care industries

ATLANTA – As part of an effort to address wage-related violations by the Southeast’s care industries’ employers, the U.S. Department of Labor will hold a webinar on workers’ rights and protections for home care, residential care and nursing care industry employers, workers and other stakeholders in the Southeast.

On Nov. 13, the department’s Wage and Hour Division will present “Caring for Those Who Care: Labor Rights for Workers in the Care Industry,” in an ongoing education and enforcement initiative to improve employer compliance in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The event will occur as the nation marks Home Care and Hospice Month in November.

Division representatives will collaborate with the Women’s Bureau and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to offer an overview of federal protections for care workers to help employers, workers and their advocates understand their respective responsibilities and rights. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST. Attendance is free but registration is required.

“Our nation’s ability to provide care for the most vulnerable people in our communities depends on truly dedicated workers in the growing care industry,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to collaborating with partners like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to ensure care workers in the Southeast receive all of their protections. Denying workers these protections hurts workers and their families and it harms the region’s economy when they have less to spend.” 

In fiscal year 2022, the Wage and Hour Division concluded more than 1,100 investigations in health care industries. These investigations recovered nearly $15 million in back wages for more than 22,000 workers.

The division’s initiative focuses resources on educating care workers and their communities about their rights to minimum wage and overtime pay and how to file a complaint if they believe their rights have been violated. The initiative also targets the misclassification of employees as independent contractors, an illegal practice that may deprive workers of legally earned wages and other protections.

“This presentation is part of our ongoing compliance assistance and enforcement initiative to reduce employer violations in the Southeast’s care industries. For those unable to attend, we remind everyone that many compliance resources are just a few online clicks away. These resources are available at no cost to employers and workers. If needed, our staff and outreach professionals are also ready to assist,” Coria added. 

Register for Caring for Those Who Care: Labor Rights for Workers in the Care Industry.

The division offers multiple compliance assistance resources to provide employers the tools they need to comply with the law. Employers and workers alike can call the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) to find out about upcoming compliance assistance events, request information or ask specific questions. The division will confidentially address questions – regardless of where a caller is from – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and its searchable Workers Owed Wages database. Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free, available in English or Spanish.