Home Helpers Senior Care Accused of FLSA Violations in New Lawsuit

A new class action lawsuit was filed against Home Helpers senior care and affiliated companies and agents in U.S. District Court, Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division on March 19, 2018.

Both of the initiating complainants are former in-home caregiving employees of Home Helpers senior care. Plaintiff Roseann G. is a citizen and resident of Landis, N.C. and plaintiff Sherri H. is a citizen and resident of Conover, N.C. The plaintiffs were employed in caregiving capacities within the last three years.

In this new class action lawsuit—open for other similarly-situated current or former caregivers of Home Helpers senior care—the defendants are accused of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act (NCWHA).

The alleged FLSA violations include failure to pay minimum wage, failure to pay overtime wages, and taking retaliatory action against an employee after she filed a lawsuit against them. The alleged NCWHA violations mirrored these by referencing Home Helpers senior care failure to pay promised hourly wages and overtime compensation.

Home Helpers Senior Care Sleep Deduction

According to plaintiffs Roseann G. and Sherri H., defendants did not have employees sign an agreement that allowed for deduction of wages for sleeping hours while onsite at elderly clients’ homes. Yet, the plaintiffs claim the practice of routinely deducting sleep time wages was engaged in by Home Helpers senior care and lowered the hourly rate for the number of hours worked in a seven-day period to well below the minimum wage.

The FLSA stipulates several requirements for the deduction of sleep time that were allegedly not met by this employer. The first requirement is that there be a written agreement between the employer and the employee for the deduction of sleep time from the wages.

The second requirement is that the worker is able to get at least five consecutive hours of sleep without interruption from the assigned client. The final requirement is that there be a sleeping area, set apart from the client that allows for the possibility of adequate rest and recuperation.

The narrative of the class action lawsuit alleges the defendants knew the nature of the work was prohibitive to meeting the two latter requirements. In-home health care workers are expected to help their clients get to the bathroom in the middle of the night to prevent falls and bed incontinence.

According to the plaintiffs, a worker was assigned a shift and was not allowed to leave the premises until relieved by the next shift worker, so there was never an alternate staff member on duty to assist during what should be ‘uninterrupted’ sleep. If there were adequate sleeping accommodations, the need to be within hearing range of the elder in question made interruption the norm, the plaintiffs say.

Home Helpers senior care is also accused in the lawsuit of paying a flat rate of $170 for a 24-hour shift minus sleeping time. This averages out to be way below both federal and state minimum wage standards. In-home caregivers were often assigned several 24-hour block shifts per week when only two would—if sleep hours were not deducted—would put them into overtime status. The plaintiffs indicate that the defendants never paid them time and a half in accordance with federal and state requirements.

Join a Free Home Helpers Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you worked for Home Helpers and you believe your employee rights were violated, you may qualify to join this Home Helpers wage and hour class action lawsuit investigation.

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