INDIANAPOLIS—The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has alleged that home health care company owner Hahn March violated federal wage laws and withheld $86,000 in wages by using improper pay practices at her two Indianapolis, Indiana, companies: Signal Health Group Inc. and SHG Employee Leasing Company. In 2018, federal investigators cited March for not paying overtime wages to employees at her then-owned company, Aging and Disabled Home Healthcare.
On Monday, Oct. 21, March was named in a complaint filed by the DOL in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The complaint was filed following an investigation by the DOL Wage and Hour Division, which discovered March and Nancy Stanley, the chief financial officer of both companies, used an artificial regular rate pay scheme to lower hourly pay rates and, in turn, shortchanged employees $86,427 in overtime wages. The two companies operate as Signal Health Group Assisted Care at Home, which provides clients medical services, and SHG Employee Leasing Co., a corporation aiming to provide clients with support services like housekeeping, errands and bathing assistance.
“The Department of Labor has asked the U.S. District Court to recover wages denied to these workers by their employers and to serve notice that trying to evade responsibilities in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act will not be tolerated,” said Christine Heri, regional solicitor of labor in Chicago. “When employers attempt to devise work-arounds to avoid paying workers the wages they have rightfully earned, the department will seek to hold them accountable in court.”
In its complaint, the DOL alleged that from at least March 16, 2020, through March 15, 2022, the companies took several actions to make it appear they were paying overtime as required, including mislabeling wages as discretionary bonuses. In addition to purporting to pay an artificially low pay rate, division investigators found the employers violated federal regulations by doing the following:
- Failing to combine hours to calculate overtime worked for joint employers.
- Not paying employees for time spent traveling between job sites during the workday.
- Denying some employees overtime pay by incorrectly categorizing them as exempt from overtime requirements.
- Failing to maintain complete and accurate time records.
The DOL is seeking $172,854—including $86,427 in back wages and an equal amount in liquated damages—for 43 current and former employees. Additionally, the DOL is asking the court to issue an order forbidding March and Stanley from future Fair Labor Standards Act violations.
“Employees who work in home health care—one of our nation’s lowest-paying professions—provide necessary daily and hospice care that allow individuals to remain in their homes and aid them in navigating their basic needs, providing dignity and comfort to clients and their families,” said Aaron Loomis, Wage and Hour Division district director. “The Department of Labor is committed to protecting workers’ rights and holding employers accountable for violating federal law.”
