FIRM NEWS

Lear Werts and its co-counsel, TGH Litigation, have filed a petition in the Boone County Circuit Court seeking a certified class action against Advantage Nursing Services and Bootheel In-Home Care Services alleging violations of the Missouri Minimum Wage Law related to these companies’ payroll practices that deny in-home health workers their overtime premium pay required by law.

The petition alleges that the defendants used a scheme whereby a nurse would complete a time-sheet for one company for the first 40 hours worked during a workweek but that any hours over 40 had to be reported on a separate sheet, for a second company, even though the employee was doing the same work, at the same location, under the same supervision. The case alleges this system unlawfully denied home health care nurses overtime premium pay when they worked more than 40 hours in a single week.

Lear Werts partner, Todd Werts explained, “In-home healthcare workers are often denied overtime in a variety of ways. Several years ago, the U.S. Department of Labor changed its regulations regarding whether home healthcare personnel were entitled to overtime, expanding the number of workers required to be paid overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week. Unfortunately, several home healthcare companies have either refused to change their policies or have changed them in ways that still have the illegal effect of denying home healthcare nurses the overtime they deserve.”

Click here to review the petition.