The owner of a group of Rochester, NY-based nursing homes says that a payroll vendor erred in calculating overtime owed to employees during COVID, despite an announcement from the US Department of Labor claiming the company exhibited “willful and repeated violations” of federal laws.
Robert Hurlbut, owner of Hurlbut Health Consulting LLC, told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News on Thursday that a payroll company he contracted with miscalculated the amounts owed to employees for shift differentials and overtime hours. He declined to name the payroll company.
“They’re making it sound like we did this on purpose, and we didn’t,” he said. “We didn’t fail in anything.”
In a press release issued Wednesday, the Labor Department said that it recovered $375,649 in back wages and liquidated damages for 806 current and former employees who were “denied … overtime pay in violation of federal law.” It notes that the company paid $69,519 in civil money penalties “for their willful and repeated violations,” including similar, previous violations.
The investigation stems back to 2019, but Hurlbut said the bulk of the issues occurred during COVID when the nursing homes had stopped admitting residents, but still required staff to care for residents. The payroll vendor did not properly calculate the amounts owed to staff for shift differentials, Hurlbut said.
As the company worked with auditors for the Department of Labor to determine the scope of the violations, Hurlbut said he was “threatened” with double penalties and fines if he did not cooperate. He said the money was rightfully owed to employees so he paid restitution to the Department of Labor, adding that he is exploring legal options regarding the payroll company.
“Despite previous experience and knowledge of the law’s requirements, Hurlbut Health Consulting has allowed new violations to occur, resulting in costly consequences,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Michael Milazzo in Albany, NY, said in the release.
Hurlbut strongly refuted that in the interview with McKnight’s, saying that Milazzo was being untruthful. The Department of Labor did not respond to McKnight’s requests Thursday for reaction to the “untruthful” claims and its indirect reference to previous violations regarding Hurlbut Health Consulting.
Hurlbut also said the company received approximately $8 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, which was distributed to all workers — not just nursing staff — at all facilities. Although the company could have used the funds to replace lost revenue from not being able to admit new residents, he said they instead paid out the money in staff bonuses.
“It all went to my employees,” he said. “I didn’t keep a dime of it.”
The back wages and damages from the Labor Department investigation covers former and current workers in Rochester at Brightonian Nursing & Rehabilitation, Hamilton Manor Nursing & Rehabilitation, The Hurlbut, Latta Road Nursing Home East, Latta Road Nursing Home West, The Shore Winds Nursing Home and Woodside Manor Nursing Home; in Avon at Avon Nursing & Rehabilitation; in Hornell at Hornell Gardens; in Livonia at Conesus Lake Nursing & Rehabilitation; in Newark at Newark Manor; in Penfield at Penfield Place Nursing & Rehabilitation; and in Waterloo at Seneca Nursing and Rehabilitation.
