On December 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported it found that several care industry employers in California failed to pay workers properly. After a series of investigations, the Department recovered a total of $735,762 in back wages and damages from five different employers for 173 workers.
The DOL investigations showed that some employers deliberately broke the law by not paying overtime or combining hours worked at different facilities, as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The five employers were:
Community Anchor Services Inc. in Carmichael, CA, failed to pay overtime, leading to $252,578 recovered for 103 workers, plus $32,343 in penalties.
Nankil Enterprises Inc. in Bakersfield, CA, didn’t pay overtime at five facilities. They owed $245,285 to 39 workers and were fined $19,159.
Opoku Residential Care Inc. in Fresno, CA, also failed to pay overtime. Investigators recovered $113,507 for 20 workers, with $9,163 in penalties.
C. Seisa House in Auburn, CA, owed $63,974 to two workers for unpaid overtime and faced a $686 penalty.
Nora Serrano, operating multiple facilities in Oroville, CA, failed to combine employees’ hours correctly, resulting in $60,418 recovered for nine workers and $6,174 in penalties.
The Department of Labor said it will continue enforcing labor laws and encouraged workers to report wage theft without fear. Employers who want to follow the law can find help through the Department’s compliance resources. In the larger healthcare industry nationwide, the Department’s Wage and Hour Division conducted more than 2,300 investigations and recovered over $37 million for workers in 2024.