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Residential Care Home Workers Win Overtime Claim

SACRAMENTO — Twenty-two California residential care facility workers will receive close to $45,000 in unpaid wages and liquidated damages according to a California district court judge’s ruling. The court’s ruling resolves the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) lawsuit filed against Jaime Gacilan and his three care facilities: Ocampo Gacilan Home Inc., Bilby Home Inc., and Country Elegance Inc. The DOL investigated and found the care providers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in failing to pay employees minimum wage and compensate them for earned overtime.

The DOL Lawsuit

The DOL investigated the 24-hour care provider facilities on allegations of unpaid minimum wage and overtime. The three residential care locations provide full-time services for adults with developmental disabilities. The investigation found the facilities were improperly recording employees’ times and improperly paying the employees in violation of the FLSA. According to the DOL’s lawsuit, the three residential care locations did not pay employees for all of the hours they worked, including mandatory training time, which resulted in a failure to pay minimum wage. When employees worked more than 40 hours, the facilities also failed to pay overtime wages at the proper one and half times the regular rate.

Based on the investigation results, the DOL estimated the 22 employees were owed around $31,000 in back wages. But, the court added close to $13,500 in liquidated damages. The court also ordered Gacilan to take proactive steps in order to comply with the FLSA, including visiting all three locations when the lawsuit and judgment were read in English, Tagalog, and Spanish to all of the employees. The reading of the lawsuit and judgment highlights the need for residential care workers to be informed of their rights in an industry plagued with wage and overtime violations.

Residential Care And Overtime

In 2013, the DOL announced a change in the FLSA which would eliminate the exemption from minimum wage and overtime requirements for home-care workers; however, this change does not go into effect until sometime 2015. Residential care workers, however, are not considered home-care workers, even though they provide assistance to the same populations, the elderly and disabled, and face similar industry wide wage and overtime abuses. Because residential care workers are already covered by the FLSA, the majority are entitled to minimum wage and earned overtime wages.

Residential care workers provide a vital service for those in need and are entitled to compensation for all of the hours they work. If you or someone you know is a residential care worker who is not receiving all of the compensation they have earned, call our team of overtime pay lawyers today at (855) 754-2795. Or you can complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our qualified legal team will assess your case. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. There are strict statutes of limitations for filing a claim so it is important that you contact our law firm immediately to discuss your case in further detail.

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