Five Michigan skilled nursing facilities and an affiliated assisted living center have been ordered to pay back wages totaling almost $1 million, following an investigation by the Department of Labor.
Federal officials said the Detroit-area Beaumont Affiliated Health and Rehabilitation Centers owed $915,223 to more than 1,300 employees because they automatically deducted meal breaks that some workers never took. Beaumont managers also failed to pay employees for time worked before and after scheduled shifts, according to the Labor Department.
Those involved in the settlement are: Beaumont Affiliated Health and Rehabilitation Centers in West Bloomfield; Woodward Hills in Bloomfield Hills; Evergreen in Southfield; Shelby in Shelby Charter Township; and Shorepoint and the Shorepoint Village Assisted Living Facility in Saint Clair Shores.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that every employee receives the wages they have rightfully earned,” said Timolin Mitchell, a district director for the enforcement agency. “Other employers should use the outcome of this investigation as an opportunity to review their own pay practices, and ensure that they are in compliance.”
Michigan has been focusing on wage theft, with the creation in April of a Payroll Fraud Enforcement Unit by Attorney General Dana Nessel.
In addition to paying the back wages, Premier Healthcare Management, which oversees the facilities, has agreed to conduct training for its employees, to provide a fact sheet on Residential Care Facilities to all employees, and to conduct quarterly reviews of payroll and time records to ensure accuracy.
Calls to Premier’s corporate offices placed by McKnight’s went unanswered Thursday.
