Four California care homes in breach for shortchanging $863K from staff

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found four California care homes breaching labor laws and shortchanging staff of $863K.

The government employment watchdogs recovered $863,860 in back wages and damages for 58 workers employed by four residential care providers in California.

A Wage and Hours investigation found these employers guilty of denying them minimum wage, overtime, or both and violating the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Four California care homes guilty of shortchanging $863K from staff

“Make no mistake, the Department of Labor is committed to stopping the exploitation of workers by residential care industry employers and holding them accountable for their unscrupulous employment practices,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Cesar Avila in Sacramento. “Our investigations find many of care workers harmed are women and low-wage earners, who can least afford to be denied their full wages.”

The four care home facilities investigated were Brisbane Guest Home Inc., Jackson’s Facilities Inc., Timeless Homecare Inc., and a Sacramento group that owns six regional facilities.

Brisbane Guest Home Inc., based in Stockton, failed to pay workers required overtime pay. This resulted in the recovery of $483,185 in wages for 11 workers, and the penalty was assessed at $7,546.

In Sacramento, 44 employees were denied the correct reimbursement at Laguna Village RCFE, Laguna Springs RCFE, and Signature Living on Lavelli Way in Elk Grove; Havenwood RCFE and Capital Senior Care in Sacramento; and Signature Living RCFE in Rancho Cordova. $306,066 in back wages and damages was recovered for the workers, and the facility owner was given $18,326 in penalties.

Jackson’s Facilities Inc. failed “to pay one employee for all hours worked, made illegal deductions not specified in the contract and denied overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek.” $46,623 was recovered in this case.

Timeless Homecare Inc. did not pay two employees the required amount for hours worked in addition to their base 40-hour workweek. The recovery sum for both employees was $27,986 in wages and damages and $2,058 in penalties were administered.

As Due reported, government employment regulators in the United States have been massively aggressive in cracking down on wage fraud. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour division has recovered over $1 billion in back wages and damages since 2021.

Image: Pixlr.

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