THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ANNOUNCES $113,000 WAGE RECOVERY FOR HOME HEALTH CARE EMPLOYEES

The New York State Department of Labor today announced two settlements following investigations into employers underpaying home care employees. The two cases, which involved employers in Brooklyn and Staten Island, resulted in settlements totaling $113,800 for two home care workers who were denied adequate sleep time during 24-hour shifts and underpaid for hours worked. NYSDOL’s Division of Worker Protection is currently investigating over 50 home health care agencies involving potential wage and hour violations for home health care aides.

“Home care aides are a critical part of our health care system,” said New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. “These dedicated professionals often work long hours, including 24-hour shifts, to care for aging or ailing New Yorkers. Rest is essential in ensuring that they have the energy and focus to safely perform their duties. If that rest is disrupted, employers must ensure these home health care employees are appropriately compensated in accordance with the law.”

The first case involved a home care aide employed by Preferred Home Care of New York, based in Brooklyn. NYSDOL investigators determined that from March 2014 to June of 2020, the employee worked 24-hour shifts and did not receive adequate sleep time. NYSDOL secured a $95,000 settlement to compensate the employee for hours worked, including overtime. The second case involved a home care aide employed by GM Family Resources Inc. in Staten Island. The employee worked three 24-hour shifts each week over a six-month period from 2020 to 2021. NYSDOL secured an $18,800 settlement for to compensate the aide for hours worked when they failed to receive uninterrupted sleep during their shift.

Employers are required to pay home care aides 13 hours for each 24-hour shift they are assigned. Under state law, an employee must receive at least three hours of break time and eight hours of sleep time, five of which must be uninterrupted. NYSDOL encourages home health care employers to review their policies and practices to ensure full compliance with the law. NYSDOL may accept these types of cases if an employee is not covered by an arbitration clause or is not involved in a separate action against their employer.

Over the past decade, NYSDOL has recovered and dispersed more than $360 million in owed wages and identified over a million misclassified workers. The Department is also the lead agency in Governor Hochul’s Wage Theft Task Force, a collaborative interagency effort to crack down on wage theft. New Yorkers can call  833-910-4378 to report wage theft. Victims can also email [email protected] for assistance. For more information unpaid wages, visit the Division of Labor Standards webpage.