ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor is trying to connect 28 former employees of a Cordele home healthcare company with their share of $65,944 in back wages and liquidated damages recovered after an investigation found the employer denied them overtime wages they earned.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Adventist Homecare and Medical Services LLC paid a total of 96 employees straight-time rates for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek when the Fair Labor Standards Act required overtime wages be paid. After its investigation, the division recovered a total of $470,261 in back wages and liquidated damages for employees owed overtime by Adventist Homecare between Oct. 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2023.
“Paying workers what they are legally owed is crucial in the healthcare field, particularly for home care workers,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Steven Salazar in Atlanta. “Federal wage laws are uncompromising and protect workers’ rights to be paid fully for their work so that they can care for themselves and the people who depend on them.”
To date, the division has compensated more than half of the workers owed back wages and damages and continues to confirm the identities of 28 former Adventist Homecare employees who have not yet responded to notification letters. In some cases, employees are entitled to recover thousands in monies they’re owed.
When the division recovers wages from an employer cited for violations, workers have three years to reclaim back wages and damages before funds must be sent to the U.S. Treasury. As such, Adventist Homecare workers must claim their shares of back wages and damages by April 2027.
“We urge people employed by Adventist Homecare and Medical Services LLC between Oct. 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2023, to contact us so that we can get them the back wages and damages that they may be owed for overtime their former employer should have paid them,” Salazar added. “Getting workers the wages that they are legally owed is a top priority for our agency. Finding these 28 employees is an urgent concern.”
The division encourages former Adventist Homecare workers who think they are owed back wages to use the agency’s Workers Owed Wages online tool, or to contact the Wage and Hour Division in Atlanta.
Adventist Homecare and Medical Services LLC is a home care agency providing personal care support, companionship, nursing and respite services for elderly individuals.
Workers and employers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions, and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the agency, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division also offers online resources for employers, such as a fact sheet on Fair Labor Standards Act overtime requirements.
Workers and employers can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android or iPhone Timesheet App for free in English and Spanish.
