NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday that an agreement has been made to deliver up to $18.8 million in unpaid wages to 12,000 home health aides.
The agreement with two major home care health agencies – Intergen Health, LLC (Intergen) and Amazing Home Care Services (Amazing) – is the result of a “multipronged investigation,” according to James’ office, with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).
During the investigation, officials found the companies repeatedly violated New York Labor Laws and the New York City Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law by failing to pay their employees millions of dollars in wages and failing to provide workers with paid sick leave.
“Home health aides are on the front lines serving the most vulnerable in our communities, yet these agencies denied them the most basic form of dignity and respect: fair pay for a hard day’s work,” said AG James.
She added: “These hardworking New Yorkers not only deserve the pay that was unfairly denied to them, but also the assurance that this won’t happen again — and that’s exactly what this agreement will do.”
The investigation began in 2018, following a referral from DCWP, and uncovered “multiple, significant violations of state and city laws that resulted in unpaid wages for thousands of New Yorkers.”
James’ office uncovered a number of violations, including:
- Failure to pay workers correct overtime wages;
- Failure to pay aides for unscheduled short shifts;
- Failure to pay workers additional compensation when they worked more than ten hours in a shift or multiple shifts in one day;
- Failure to pay employees for travel time between patients’ homes;
- Failure to pay “joint employer” overtime for workers who worked for both companies during the same week; and
- Failure to pay workers who perform “live-in” shifts. (Live-in shifts require workers to stay in a patient’s home for at least 24 hours but they receive payment for only 13 hours.)
The $18.8 million payout to the 12,000 workers will now be delivered in two phases.
The first will deliver nearly $7.3 million to the workers and includes retribution for all violations, except for compensation for “live-in” workers.
The agencies will also have to pay $5.2 million in restitution for violating New York Labor Law, and nearly $2.1 million to employees impacted by violations of Paid Sick Leave. Four employees who were illegally fired for using sick leave will also receive back pay.
The second phase will require the companies to pay $11.54 million to “live-in” workers for their stolen wages. This settlement is subjected to court approval and is the result of a private lawsuit. The companies will also have to pay attorneys’ fees.
“In New York City, we fight to protect all workers — including those who work in people’s homes,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Home health care workers care for our families and not only deserve Paid Safe and Sick Leave — it’s their right. To any company in New York City that thinks they can get away with withholding workers’ rights and violating our laws: we will hold you accountable.”
Related
