A Bingham Farms staffing firm has to pay 70 nurses more than $180,000 in back wages and damages after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found the employees were not paid overtime wages at time and a half their hourly rate.
Reliance Staffing will pay $181,531 — $90,765 in overtime wages and equal damages — to 70 registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants after a federal judge entered a consent judgment on Friday.
An investigation by the U.S Department of Labor found that Reliance Staffing misclassified its workers as independent contractors when, in fact, they were employees. By doing so, the company failed to pay overtime wages at time and a half of employees’ hourly rate of pay for hours exceeding 40 in a pay period, the U.S. DOL said in a news release.
On Sept. 22, 2023, the department filed a complaint in federal court against Reliance Staffing and its owner, Fahim Uddin.
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