US Department of Labor recovers $151K in back wages, damages for 32 Indianapolis home healthcare aides denied overtime

Employer:      Renee’s Helping Hands 

                         Indianapolis, IN

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s  Wage and Hour Division recovered $151,444 ‒ representing $75,722  in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages ‒ for 32 home healthcare aides employed by Renee’s Helping Hands after the division found the employer paid aides who traveled to clients’ homes to provide services straight time for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Investigators cited the Indianapolis company for not paying these workers time and one-half their hourly rate of pay for hours over 40, and for not maintaining accurate payroll records. These failures violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions. 

Quote: “Workers who deliver essential care enable people in need to live with dignity at home. Yet, they are among our nation’s lowest-paid workers and, too often, have employers who shortchange their wages,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Aaron Loomis in Indianapolis. “The Wage and Hour Division is determined to protect these essential workers’ earnings and see they are paid for their hard work properly.”

Background: In fiscal year 2023, the division recovered more than $31.8 million in back wages for workers in the healthcare industry nationwide and $192,929 for workers in Indiana. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average home health care aid earned $32,160 per year, about $15.46 an hour in May 2022. A December 2023 report estimates the healthcare and social assistance industry had more than 1.8 million open jobs nationwide. 

Learn about wage protections for care workers. 

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.