An enforcement action by the U.S. Department of Labor resulted in a ruling that nurses were employees, not independent contractors, of a staffing agency that provided them on a temporary basis to hospitals. After this ruling, the agency took action to attempt to deter unauthorized overtime by the nurses and to avoid having to pay time and a half for such hours. It adopted a policy, printed on all of the nurses’ time sheets, stating that the nurses had to notify the agency in advance of any hours exceeding 40 hours a week. If they did not, the notice stated that the nurses would be paid for such time only at their regular rate.When nurses who had worked overtime hours at hospitals without notifying the agency ahead of time sought to recover pay at the overtime rate, they prevailed despite not having followed the employer’s policy. A federal court ruled that the agency had not done enough to meet its duty under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act to “make every effort” to prevent performance of unauthorized overtime work of which it had knowledge. The agency’s knowledge was present, albeit after the fact, as was evidenced by the nurses’ time sheets showing the unauthorized overtime that was worked.
Suggestions from the Court
Watch Your Language, Debt Collectors.
In a letter to a debtor intended to prompt payment of $250 in debts, a collection agency’s choice of words entangled it in protracted litigation under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The theme of the dunning letter was honesty, or the lack thereof, on the debtor’s part. In all capital letters, the … Read more