The U.S. Department of Labor recently helped 45 workers at a California care company get paid what they were owed. The company, PALS LLC (PALS), allegedly did not pay some workers for the extra hours they worked. Many employees worked over 40 hours a week, some even reaching 70 hours. When people work more than 40 hours, they should get overtime pay. However, PALS did not pay the workers that extra overtime rate.
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigated the issue and discovered that PALS had not kept records of how many hours their employees worked or what pay rates they used. PALS has two locations, one in Indio and one in Whittier, where they help adults with special needs live more independently. Since 1998, PALS has been providing these services to people in Los Angeles and Riverside counties.
In the end, the Labor Department got $158,868 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, for the workers. PALS also had to pay $10,829 in penalties due to breaking these rules on purpose.
Here is a link to the U.S. Department of Labor news release.