Palm Shores Retirement Community Pays Back Wages

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Palm Shores Retirement Community will pay $181,663 in back wages to 454 employees for violating the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act after an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Investigators found that the company’s St. Petersburg location failed to pay the required overtime premium to employees who were involved in the evacuation and subsequent care of residents during and immediately after Hurricane Irma. The employer failed to pay these workers for all of their hours when they worked 24-hour shifts without sleep.

Investigators further identified overtime violations that occurred in all 19 of the employer’s Florida locations. Specifically, the employer failed to include some bonus payments made to marketing and activities employees when calculating overtime pay rates, resulting in rates being lower than what the law requires. Additionally, the employer’s exclusion of travel time from some workers’ hours created additional overtime violations.

For more information, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).

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