Federal investigation yields $100G in back OT for Helen Hayes Hospital nurses
By SHERRY HALBROOK
More than 100 PEF nurses at Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw have received back overtime pay averaging approximately $1,000 each.
The payments totaling $100,220.88 were the result of a settlement reached by the state hospital and the U.S. Labor Department following a seven-month investigation into violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA).
The hospital, which specializes in physical rehabilitation, is owned and operated by the state Health Department.
The investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division covered a two-year period and included interviews with employees and reviews of payroll records. It found the registered nurses were not being paid properly for overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a single work week.
Under FLSA, covered employees must be paid 150 percent of their regular rate of pay for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers also must keep accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.
Sonia Rybak, assistant district director for the Wage and Hour Division in White Plains, said, “Our investigation showed RNs routinely put in additional work time both before and after their scheduled shifts. The employer also routinely deducted a half hour per shift for meal breaks that often were not taken or were interrupted.”
PEF brought the chronic OT-wage problem to the U.S. Labor Department after repeated attempts to resolve it at both the local and statewide labor-management levels were unsuccessful.
“Management told us nurses who missed their lunches or had to work late without prior approval were just not managing their time well,” said PEF Executive Board Member and Division 226 Council Leader Carolyn Willson, a nurse at the hospital.
“It is incumbent upon employers to adhere to the requirements of the FLSA, so employees can count on being paid properly for all the hours they work in any given work week,” Rybak said.
Following extensive negotiations with Helen Hayes Hospital, the employer agreed to pay employees the back wages due and to come into full compliance with the requirements of the FLSA in the future.
The investigation was conducted by the White Plains Area Office of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, which can be reached at 914-682-6348.
For more Information on FLSA, ca11 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243) or visit www.wagehour.dol.gov
online.
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