Lost Wages of $6.8 Million Coming to Bay Area Workers

By Bay City News Service

Officials with the U.S. Department of Labor have recovered more than $6.8 million in wages for more than 1,300 Bay Area workers who weren’t paid according to labor laws between 2011 and 2014, labor department officials said.

The labor law violations occurred at residential care facilities and nursing homes and labor department officials rendered the fines for failing to pay workers at least the federal minimum wages or overtime.

One hundred percent of the more than $6.8 million will go back to workers or already has gone back, assistant district director for the Wage and Hour Division Michael Eastwood said. Eastwood’s office is part of the San Francisco district office, which is responsible for all of the Bay Area and
coastal counties to the Oregon border.

Wage and Hour Division officials investigated hundreds of individual care homes and a majority was in violation of labor laws, Eastwood said. But he said the industry in the Bay Area has turned a corner and more businesses are complying with the law.

“The hardworking men and women who take care of our relatives and friends need to be compensated fully for their time,” regional administrator for the department’s Wage and Hour Division Ruben Rosalez said in a statement.

Officials said the lost wages represent money the workers need to pay for basic living expenses. Business owners were able to exploit the workers because many workers don’t know their rights, officials said. Among the violations officials found were the failure to pay workers for overnight work. Non-monetary violations included failing to provide adequate sleeping accommodations. Some workers had to sleep on the floor. Some workers worked 10 to 14 hours a day and were paid for only eight hours. Other employers paid workers a weekly salary regardless of the hours a person worked and consequently these employers denied workers overtime pay.

Some employers intimidated or retaliated against their employees or told them not to cooperate with Wage and Hour Division investigators. Some
business owners threatened employees when the workers questioned their working conditions.

Owners of Retirement Plus of San Carlos and four other Bay-Area
businesses paid its workers as little as $5 per hour. The business resolved
the case by paying a fine of more than $630,000. Eastwood said the obvious reason for the violations is profit.

When business owners pay their employees less, owners can charge less for services. “It’s a major issue,” Eastwood said. “Their at a huge competitive advantage.”