Nursing Co. Agrees To Pay $2M In Overtime Pay Settlement

A staffing company for healthcare workers recently agreed to pay $2 million to resolve claims that they failed to provide workers with their owed overtime pay.

The settlement between Class Members and Advanced Medical Personnel Services Inc. was recently given preliminary approval by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. The settlement will benefit a Class of around 1,550 nurses and therapists who worked for the company.

Of the $2 million settlement, up to one third will go to Class counsel for attorneys’ fees and up to $12,000 will cover court costs. Two of the named plaintiffs in the overtime class action will receive incentive awards of up to $10,000 each while the third named plaintiff will be able to collect up to $5,000.

The settlement will also cover $20,000 in administrative fees and a $50,000 penalty under California’s Private Attorney General Act (PAGA). The PAGA allows private citizens to bring labor lawsuit claims on behalf of the state’s government. When a PAGA lawsuit or class action results in a trial verdict or settlement, a portion of that recovery is reverted to the state as penalties for any alleged violations of California labor law.

After all of these payments, an estimated $1.2 million will be left over for distribution to Class Members. Each Class Member will receive an average payment of $800 each. A claim form is not required to receive a payment. As long as Class Members do not opt out of the settlement, they will automatically receive their share of the recovery.

Advanced Medical Personnel Services was accused of violating California labor laws by failing to factor in housing and meal reimbursements when calculating overtime wages for their workers. This allegedly resulted in lower overtime rates.

In California, overtime is paid to employees for all hours worked over 40 hours in a single work week, between 8 and 12 hours worked in a single day, and for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek. Regular overtime is paid at one and a half times an employee’s regular rate of pay.

California also has a special type of overtime known as double time. This overtime, which is paid at twice an employee’s regular rate of pay, is paid to employees for all hours worked over 12 hours in any workday and all hours worked over eight hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.

When calculating overtime, both state and federal overtime laws require employers to include bonuses, shift differentials, and other compensation when calculating the regular rate of pay. Unfortunately, many employers fail to properly consider these things when calculating overtime rate of pay.

“Errors are also common in the healthcare industry in calculating the regular rate when an employee works two or more different jobs in a single workweek,” the U.S. Department of Labor notes.

The Nursing Overtime Pay Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-01967 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

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