Provider to pay back wages to 500 for ignoring bonuses

A West Virginia nursing home and rehabilitation company has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor after the former allegedly violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Stonerise Healthcare LLC will pay $61,840 in back wages and an identical amount in damages to 498 health-care employees at 16 facilities throughout West Virginia, the DOL announced Dec. 21.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Charleston-based Stonerise Healthcare failed to include six types of bonus payments in employees’ regular rates of pay when calculating overtime, causing artificially lowered overtime rates. The excluded bonuses included those paid for initial sign-on, picking up more shifts and good attendance records, according to the agency.

The Fair Labor Standards Act mandates that covered, non-exempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for hours worked, plus time-and- a-half for any hours they work beyond the 40-hour traditional work week.

The settlement covers Stonerise Healthcare facilities in Morgantown, Kingwood, Clarksburg, Bridgeport, Parkersburg, Belmont, Berkeley Springs, Keyser, Martins- burg, Charleston, Princeton, Beckley, Rainelle, Lindside, Ronceverte and Wellsburg.

“We are committed to ensuring that employees receive the wages they have rightfully earned,” said Wage and Hour District Director John DuMont, in Pittsburgh. “We are also committed to ensuring that employers who fail to comply with the law do not gain an unfair competitive advantage over those who do.”

For more information and resources, including an interactive e-laws advisor, to understand and comply with the laws the Wage and Hour Division enforces, visit the division’s website at www. dol.gov/whd. In addition, the Division’s Community Outreach and Resource Planning Specialists conduct ongoing outreach activities to educate employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities when it comes to DOL laws.