A Golden Valley home health care agency will pay 82 current and former workers more than $483,000 in back pay and penalties for failing to pay overtime over a two-year period.
Alliance HHC & Nursing Service and its owner, Robin Nyangena, agreed to the settlement after the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division found that the agency paid employees at straight-time rates regardless of the number of hours worked. The home health agency also failed to preserve accurate records, according to court filings.
Federal law requires employers to pay overtime to those who work more than 40 hours in a work week.
Neither Nyangena nor anyone at Alliance HHC & Nursing could be reached for comment.
The home health care agency launched in 2007 and specializes in serving clients from different cultural backgrounds, including those from the Hmong, Somalian, Russian and Spanish communities, according to its website.
Employees at Alliance provide skilled nursing care, home-based nursing, help with day-to-day activities and therapy services.
The payment covers unpaid wages of $241,582 between Aug. 13, 2016, and Aug. 10, 2018, plus a penalty that doubles that amount, according to the settlement agreement approved Thursday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
In announcing the decision, the U.S. Department of Labor noted that the home health care industry employs many of the nation's low-wage workers and that women, immigrants and people of color often hold those jobs.
"The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring essential employees receive every dollar of their hard-earned wages and that employers abide by the federal wage laws," Kristin Tout, acting district director of the Wage and Hour Division in Minneapolis, said in a statement. "Other employers should use the outcome of this investigation as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to ensure they comply with the law."
The division recently launched an initiative called "Essential Workers, Essential Protections," focused on helping workers better understand workplace laws that protect them and how to contact the division for help.
