On February 20, 2025, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office (LCO) announced that it cited Amity In-Home Care Services in Los Angeles, California, more than $2.3 million for allegedly misclassifying its caregiver workers as independent contractors, in. The LCO alleges that Amity failed to provide overtime wages, workers’ compensation insurance, and proper wage statements.
This was the first enforcement action under Assembly Bill 594 which beginning January 1, 2024, authorized the state to collect wage and hour violation citation money as damages payable to workers to cover any unpaid wages, damages, or penalties owed to the workers before the remaining civil penalties go to California’s general fund.
This is a huge development that ensures works who suffered the violations get made whole before the state gets paid anything from a recovery.
(See Link(s): Labor Code section 181)