Summary: After a California hospice company allegedly engaged in numerous wage and hour violations during the pandemic, past and current employees are seeking back wages in a $5 million lawsuit. If you work in healthcare and suspect wage theft from your employer, an attorney can help. Request your free review today.
Wage theft is a serious issue in the healthcare industry. Certain employees—such as home healthcare workers, hospice workers, and nurses—may be particularly vulnerable to numerous wage and hour violations.
A California hospice is currently facing a $5 million class action lawsuit from past and current workers claiming alleged unpaid wages earned during the pandemic. An attorney can assist with a potential wage theft claim and help you understand the laws to protect yourself in the future.
The Story Behind a $5 Million Wage Lawsuit
A California hospice faces ongoing litigation filed by past and current employees claiming back wages that allegedly should have been paid during the pandemic. The class action lawsuit contains multiple serious allegations of wage theft. These include the following:
- The hospice company violated state and federal laws about paid sick leave for employees
- The hospice company neglected to pay workers proper wages for all hours worked, including overtime wages
- Employees regularly earned non-discretionary incentive wages that increased their overall rate of pay, but the hospice company routinely paid sick leave at a lower base rate of pay
- The hospice company regularly rounded down payments for hourly wages
- The hospice company did not pay workers accurately for the total hours worked in each pay period
- The hospice company failed to reimburse the required business expenses
- The hospice company required employees to work even when they were clocked out for meal times and denied some workers rest periods
Employees who are members of the class action also noted that despite the hospice company offering incentive pay to hourly employees as part of a program that included performance-based bonuses, they did not receive that pay. Employees were not just deprived of potential incentive pay owed, according to the lawsuit.
Employees were also underpaid for overtime compensation because overtime wages were calculated based on the regular rate without factoring in incentive wages. Workers who are members of the class action lawsuit are claiming $5 million in financial losses resulting from the hospice company’s alleged failure to properly compensate its employees.
Wage and Hour Violations in the Healthcare Industry
Healthcare workers frequently face violations of their wage rights by employers. These unlawful workplace practices can include:
- Not paying for all hours worked
- Failing to pay overtime when required
- Requiring unpaid work during breaks or failing to pay for work during designated meal breaks
- Requiring healthcare workers to be on-call outside of scheduled shifts and not paying them for that time
- Not reimbursing for work-related expenses
- Deducting unauthorized amounts from paychecks
- Failing to pay for travel time between patient visits
- Failing to pay the correct minimum wage
If your employer is violating your wage rights, an attorney can help. Our firm regularly pursues litigation against employers who break wage and hour laws. We can interpret complex employment laws and negotiate with your current or past employer to recover lost wages.
An Experienced Wage and Hour Attorney Can Help
Wage theft can have a devastating impact on affected workers. Healthcare employers who fail to pay workers overtime, pay less than the minimum wage, or commit other violations are engaging in wage theft.
If you are a nonexempt healthcare worker and believe your employer is not paying you the wages you are owed, you should speak with a lawyer as soon as possible to assess your wage rights. An attorney can take a deep dive into your work records and pay history to determine whether you are being compensated for all that you do.
Use our chat or fill out our online form to request your free review. Since we work on a contingent fee basis, you owe us nothing unless we secure a favorable outcome for you.
