A staffing agency has been fined more than $314,000 after denying overtime pay, federal officials announced.
Mississippi-based Prime Care Nursing paid employees straight-time rates instead of required overtime when they worked more than 40 hours a week, the Department of Labor said Wednesday.
The agency required the firm to pay back wages and damages to a total of 91 nurses, some of whom had worked as many as 84 hours in a single week. The agency, based in Greenville, MS, also agreed to pay overtime moving forward.
“Our investigations often find unscrupulous employers depriving workers — who provide vital services to people in need — of their hard-earned wages,” DOL Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall said in a statement announcing the agreement. “When employers violate workers’ rights, they make it harder for them to provide for themselves and their families. The Department of Labor will hold employers accountable when they mistakenly think they can violate these rights.”
Prime Care Nursing provides RNs, LPNs, and CNAs to Mississippi nursing homes, hospitals, home care and hospice agencies and rehabilitation centers. Prime Care Nursing workers include registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and caregivers.
A call to the agency’s main telephone number Thursday went to an individual voicemail. A message seeking comment was not returned.
Staffing agencies increasingly have been criticized for their classification of and sometimes inadequate payment of per-diem employees, while also charging historic rates to providers in many states.
