A Philadelphia-based healthcare staffing company will pay $9.3 million in back wages and liquidated damages for 1,756 employees to resolve allegations it misclassified workers and willfully denied their overtime pay, the Labor Department announced Sept. 27.
The news comes after the Labor Department obtained a judgment Sept. 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The judgment requires U.S. Medical Staffing to pay $4.65 million in owed back wages and an equal amount owed in liquidated damages. The company must also pay a civil money penalty of $700,000.
U.S. Medical Staffing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The judgment resolves allegations that from at least Sept. 24, 2017, through at least May 22, 2022, the company willfully denied the affected employees overtime pay they were owed, the Labor Department said.
During an investigation, the Labor Department said it determined that the staffing company "failed to pay time and one-half the required rate for hours over 40 in a workweek," and, in some cases, "claimed falsely to be a registry through which the company's clients solely employed the workers." The Labor Department also contends that, in some cases, the staffing company misclassified workers as independent contractors.
U.S. Medical Staffing provides workers to schools and group homes for people with disabilities, including aides, personal care assistants and licensed practical nurses.