California nursing home company owes employees $690,000 in wage theft case

A federal court ordered a California nursing home operator to pay $690,696 to 108 employees after it denied them overtime pay and made them work during lunch breaks without pay, the Department of Labor announced last week.

According to a complaint, the violations took place from December 2018 to July 2021 at Neldy’s Adult Residential Care Home locations, operated by Neldy’s RC Inc.

The nursing home would split its employees’ pay into multiple checks to avoid paying overtime in violation of federal law, the Labor Department said in its press release. Neldy’s also “deducted meal breaks from employees’ pay when their duties required them to work during their breaks,” the department said.

Unpaid wages ran to more than $300,000

The Garden Grove, California-based company must pay $345,348 in back wages, the same amount in damages and an additional $25,000 in civil penalties. Many employees will receive more than $10,000 back from the employer, with one employee receiving more than $47,000 according to the court order. The order outlined a 10-installment payment schedule that began in October.