A senior care facility in Southern California has been ordered by a federal court to pay their employees $690,696. The employer, Neldy’s R.C. Inc. was found to have broken labor regulations by failing to pay employees their rightful salaries. To conceal their illegal actions, the company purposefully did not add up all hours worked and instead compensated their employees with many paychecks. In addition, they neglected to keep the necessary time and payroll documents and took meal breaks out of their employees’ compensation when they had to work during such breaks.
The court mandated that Neldy reimburse the impacted employees for lost earnings and liquidated damages amounting to $345,348.
Key lessons from this case:
- Employers are required to add up all hours a worker puts in, whether they were spread out over several paychecks or accomplished over several shifts.
- It is against the law to pay workers in successive paychecks to conceal extra hours.
- When employees are obligated to work during break times, their salaries cannot be withheld by the employer. Meal breaks must be offered and paid for work following the relevant labor rules.
Learn more about California Labor Laws through our detailed guide.
