A home health care provider in Tennessee recently paid $358,675 in back wages to resolve overtime violations, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Labor on April 20.
 
Fifty workers at Servant’s Quest in Oliver Springs, Tenn., had reportedly been misclassified as independent contractors by the company, according to DOL.
 
The employer then paid the misclassified workers straight-time wages for the hours they worked in excess of 40 in a workweek, under the pretense as independent contractors, meaning overtime rules didn’t apply to these workers, according to the DOL release.
 
“The misclassification of employees as independent contractors cheats workers out of wages and benefits they are entitled to under the law, hurts other employers who play by the rules, and subsequently hurts our economy,” said Kenneth Stripling, acting wage and hour division district director in Nashville, Tennessee. “The Wage and Hour Division is pursuing corrective action vigorously in those situations when workers are, in fact, employees to ensure that they receive every penny of their hard-earned wages.”