Summary: The home healthcare industry is rampant with wage and hour violations involving overtime pay, minimum wage requirements, and more. A well-known healthcare provider’s recent payout of significant damages to its workers is just one example of the egregious wage theft caregivers often face. Contact an experienced lawyer for legal help if you are a healthcare worker facing a potential wage and hour dispute.
TriMED HealthCare provides home care services for patients across the state of Pennsylvania. Following a lengthy investigation, it emerged that TriMED was engaging in illegal payment practices including failing to pay its employees proper overtime. TriMED was ordered to pay over $3.8 million in back wages and additional damages to 433 employees.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), nonexempt workers must be paid overtime when they exceed 40 hours in a workweek. If you or a loved one works in healthcare and is being deprived of overtime pay, do not wait to contact an unpaid overtime attorney to get the legal help you need to secure the wages you are owed.
Understanding the Case Involving TriMED HealthCare
TriMED Healthcare is one in a long line of home healthcare providers exposed for engaging in illegal pay practices. The investigation of TriMED produced several findings:
- TriMED paid its direct care employees anywhere from $7.25 to $14 per hour as a regular rate (the federal minimum wage for nonexempt, covered employees is $7.25 per hour)
- While these findings alone would not have constituted a violation, TriMED habitually avoided the cost of paying employees overtime by lowering those regular rates if employees exceeded 40 hours in a workweek
- Not only did TriMED reduce its hourly rates when employees crossed into overtime hours, but it would then calculate the rate of overtime based on those lowered rates
- This meant that TriMED was paying out only straight time even when overtime pay was required for its direct care workers
- TriMED habitually paid administrative employees straight time instead of overtime pay
- TriMED failed to compensate direct care workers for travel time, kept poor/incomplete records, and did not compensate care workers for travel
As a result, TriMED was ordered to pay 433 employees who were denied full overtime compensation a total of over $3.8 million. That figure included $1.9 million in back wages as well as an equal sum of liquidated damages.
Common Wage Violations in the Healthcare Industry
If you work in the healthcare industry and believe your employer has willfully taken advantage of your position to pay you less than you deserve, you should immediately contact a seasoned legal professional. Common examples of overtime and related violations that healthcare workers face include:
- Failing to comply with minimum wage laws
- Misclassifying employees as exempt or as independent contractors
- Deducting for meal breaks or other periods of time when the worker should be relieved of duty, but is not
- Failing to pay overtime when work exceeds eight hours in a workday or 80 hours in a 14-day period (this falls under the FLSA’s federal eight and eighty exception for healthcare workers)
An experienced attorney can investigate your situation thoroughly and help you gather the proper evidence to support your claim. A lawyer can negotiate on your behalf to reach a settlement with your employer or take the claim to court (if necessary), always aggressively safeguarding your interests.
Speak With a Healthcare Worker Overtime Pay Attorney
Employers that fall under the FLSA, including healthcare companies, are responsible for paying employees all compensation they are entitled to. This includes overtime pay.
Healthcare workers and other employees who bring a lawsuit for unpaid overtime or other forms of wage theft can be entitled to back pay as well as liquidated (double) damages and attorneys’ fees. To discuss your potential unpaid wage claim and get a free confidential review, fill out the intake form or start a chat with us.
