Dive Brief:
- Heavenly Hands Home Healthcare, a Chesapeake, Virginia-based assisted living services provider, falsified employee signatures on forms showing proof of payment, did not pay employees back wages and liquidated damages as previously agreed to and forged payroll records to show proof of payment, the U.S. Department of Labor alleged in a July 8 press release.
- In addition, the employer threatened employees and “engaged in a campaign to dissuade them from speaking with the department’s representatives,” DOL said. The agency secured a preliminary injunction and restraining order against the provider to prevent it from obstructing an investigation, retaliating against employees who spoke with investigators and “demanding kickbacks of back wages” assessed by the Wage and Hour Division.
- “We are complying with the DOL and the court order,” Heavenly Hands’ owner and operator, Lauren Wilson, told HR Dive. “The allegations are false.”
Dive Insight:
The injunction and restraining order are the latest in a series of actions DOL has taken against Heavenly Hands, kicked off by a wage and hour investigation that began last June and covered a two-year period from 2019 to 2021.
During that investigation, DOL said it determined that Heavenly Hands did not pay nonexempt employees overtime and failed to create and maintain adequate records of employee hours.
In mid-February 2022, Heavenly Hands entered into a settlement agreement with the DOL, agreeing to pay $413,382 in unpaid wages and liquidated damages to former and current employees.
Despite having signed the agreement, Heavenly Hands engaged in a “kickback scheme,” DOL alleged in a June 1 complaint, through which it submitted 37 standardized wage and hour forms and copies of payroll statements meant to show that it had made its back payments. When DOL spoke with a number of employees, it determined that they did not receive back payments and their signatures were forged, the agency said in the complaint. Eleven employees signed statements for DOL alleging nonreceipt of payments.
When the DOL requested canceled checks for the employees, Heavenly Hands asserted that none of the employees had cashed their checks. In mid-April, the business provided one canceled check, but DOL was not able to reach the employee to confirm receipt of payment, the complaint said.
DOL further alleged that Heavenly Hands “threatened and intimidated employees” to falsify documents and return payment they were owed and that it told employees the business would have to shut down if they demanded their full wages.
“This enforcement action should serve as a reminder to employers who disregard the law by shirking their obligations to pay employees their proper wages,” DOL Regional Solicitor Oscar L. Hampton III said in a statement on the injunction. “Retaliation and intimidation against workers are wrong and they are unlawful.”
DOL has made plans to step up its wage and hour enforcement in recent months, announcing its intention in February to add 100 investigators and suggesting it would add more later in the year. It also announced plans to focus more vigorously on particular industries, including warehousing and logistics.
Heavenly Hands isn’t the only assisted living company that has been under the scope of DOL recently; in June, the agency settled overtime and other wage allegations with Illinois-based Petersen Health Care for $2.9 million.
