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DOL orders Indiana veteran aid nonprofit to increase pay

Following the investigation, the labor department ordered The Journey Home to pay those employees restitution.
Justin Hicks/IPB News
Following the investigation, the labor department ordered The Journey Home to pay those employees restitution.

A Indiana nonprofit for veterans dealing with housing insecurity is being ordered to pay nearly $90,000 to caregivers after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation after it found the organization violated a new minimum wage requirement for federal contractors.

The Journey Home in Winchester – just east of Muncie – provides temporary housing assistance and services to veterans who are homeless.

Because it receives some federal funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, it has to follow federal pay guidelines.

 

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But when the minimum hourly rate was increased to $11.25 an hour with an executive order in September, the nonprofit didn’t follow suit for 19 caregivers. It also failed to compensate some employees correctly for holidays and vacations.

Following the investigation, the labor department ordered The Journey Home to pay those employees restitution.

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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