Labor Dept. Intervenes at Two California LTC Providers
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has intervened to return lost wages to employees of two California long-term care providers.
In late February, the DOL filed a lawsuit alleging that the Oxnard Manor Healthcare Center, a nursing home in Oxnard, owed money to as many as two dozen employees.
The facility violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay workers time-and-a-half for overtime hours, the lawsuit says. It also forced employees to work off the clock and deducted hours worked from workers’ timesheets.
Margot Sanchez, an Oxnard employee, was fired after she spoke out against the wage injustices, the lawsuit alleges.
In the lawsuit, the DOL says that Oxnard must pay workers back wages and re-hire Sanchez.
Elsewhere in California, Cabrera’s Guest Home, an operator of adult residential care homes, agreed to pay more than $90,000 to seven workers following a DOL investigation.
The DOL’s Wage and House Division determined that the employees were earning less than federal minimum wage and were not being paid time-and-a-half for overtime hours.
The investigation of Cabrera’s was reported in the April 10 edition of the DOL newsletter.
— by Matthew Ozga
