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Federal court orders Indiana home health companies to pay overtime

The U.S. Department of Labor initiated the overtime payment order by filing a lawsuit in a federal district court.
Justin Hicks
The U.S. Department of Labor initiated the overtime payment order by filing a lawsuit in a federal district court.

A federal court ordered two Indiana health care companies to pay 171 employees nearly $450,000. The order follows a fair labor standards investigation by the Department of Labor.

The two companies – Heal at Home and Comfort Keepers – are both owned by Timothy Paul. The same employees were being scheduled to work through both companies. But when workers logged more than a combined 40 hours a week, they were denied overtime pay.


 

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The federal Fair Labor Standards Act says employees have to be paid time and-a-half for overtime hours.

Patricia Lewis, DOL wage and hour district director in Indianapolis, said in a news release when the company denied the pay, it robbed employees of “wages they rightfully earned.”

Contact reporter Justin at  jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.

Copyright 2022 IPB News. To see more, visit IPB News.

Justin Hicks is a workforce reporter for IPB News based at WVPE in Elkhart. He comes to Indiana by way of New York. He has a master's degree from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University and earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from Appalachian State University where he played trumpet. He first learned about Elkhart, Indiana, because of the stamp on his brass instrument indicating where it was produced. Justin was born and raised in Mt. Olive, North Carolina. He currently lives in South Bend with his dog, Charlotte.
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