Improper record keeping for overtime pay is costing a skilled nursing operator more than $42,000, the Department of Labor announced. 

Helia Healthcare has been ordered to pay $42,696 in back wages to 99 current and former nursing staff members of the Pillars of North County Health & Rehab Center, a long-term care facility based in Florissant, MO.

The order stemmed from an investigation by the agency’s Wage and Hour Division that found violations of overtime and record-keeping requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Helia Healthcare operates 13 skilled nursing facilities and four rehabilitation centers with 850 employees in Illinois and Missouri, according to its website. Company officials did not return calls from McKnight’s seeking comment.

“Employers must understand how to calculate overtime properly to ensure that workers are paid all of the wages they have legally earned, and must ensure that they record all the hours employees actually work — these hours are sometimes very different than what appears on a posted schedule,” said Jim Yochim, district director of the Wage and Hour Division in St. Louis.

He also encouraged providers to utilize the agency’s tools to help them better understand their wage responsibilities and ensure they’re in compliance.

There has been a recent spate of wage and payment rulings against long-term care operators. 

In September, a New York City-based nursing home operator was ordered to pay more than $261,000 in back wages, damages and civil penalties for overtime and minimum wage violations.

And in October, a staffing agency that provides traveling CNAs and other services to skilled nursing providers agreed to a $2.75 million settlement. It brings to a close a California class-action lawsuit that accused Faststaff LLC of not including housing stipends in overtime calculations.