LANDSDOWNE, Pennsylvania—Affectionate Home Health Care Services LLC, a homecare agency providing non-medical care in the home, will pay more than $2.3 million in back wages under a consent judgment, the U.S. Department of Labor reports.
A federal investigation found that the company willfully shortchanged nearly 400 employees on overtime, the department said in a news release.
“Home health care workers provide essential services to people who depend greatly on their care, and these workers deserve to be fairly and fully compensated,” said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “The Wage and Hour Division will vigorously protect the workplace rights and dignity of these workers and ensure employers fulfill their obligation to comply with federal labor laws.”
The judgment requires Affectionate and its owners, Ashford B. Sonii and Habibatu K. Dumbar, to pay $1.17 million in back wages and an equal amount in damages.
According to the release, division investigators determined the company paid straight time for overtime hours worked, paid an arbitrary rate less than the time-and-a-half overtime rate required by law for hours over 40 in a work week, or used a combination of the two illegal pay practices. They also found the employer did not separate straight-time hours worked from overtime hours and failed to record the proper hourly rates in overtime work weeks accurately.
In addition to paying back wages and damages, Affectionate Home Health Care Services LLC must also pay a $219,099 civil money penalty assessed by the division for the willful nature of the violations.
