A Mississippi senior living operator must pay $59,000 in back wages for repeatedly shortchanging workers, plus an additional $7,000 in penalties for repeated violations, according to the Department of Labor.
Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Plantation Pointe Retirement Community in Columbus, MS, failed to carry hours over from the beginning of the workweek into the next pay period for employees at its Arrington Assisted Living location who were on a semi-monthly pay schedule.
The error contributed to the operators not paying employees the time-and-a-half rate due when the workweek hours split by the pay period totaled more than 40, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the DOL.
In addition, Arrington did not compute a weighted average for employees who were paid two different pay rates in the same workweek, which led to some employees receiving lower overtime rates, the DOL said, adding that the community also did not maintain accurate pay records.
As a result of the wage violations, Plantation Pointe agreed to pay $59,417 in back wages and damages for 64 workers, the Labor Department said.
“Arrington Assisted Living repeatedly shortchanged workers their wages — the same workers who provide essential care for our loved ones — depriving those employees the means they need to support themselves and their loved ones,” Wage and Hour District Director Audrey Hall said in a statement.
The federal government also fined the operator $7,616 in civil money penalties for what it said were repeated violations. In a 2022 investigation, the agency found that Plantation Pointe violated the FLSA by not paying overtime premiums on shift differential bonuses and weighted averages in overtime weeks at its Windsor Place Nursing Center location.
Monday, the Wage and Hour Division presented a webinar on workers’ rights and protections for residential care, nursing care and home care and industry employers, workers and other stakeholders. The webinar was part of an ongoing education and enforcement initiative to improve employer compliance in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North and South Carolina and Tennessee.
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