Home Health Agencies Ordered To Pay $18.8M To Workers

NEW YORK, NY — New York city and state officials Tuesday announced that two home health companies will pay up to $18.8 million in restitution to 12,000 of its workers. A joint investigation from the New York State Attorney General and the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection found that Intergen Health, LLC and Amazing Home Care Services, LLC – two home care agencies under common ownership that together form one of the state’s largest – violated numerous provisions of the city’s Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law, according to a city news release.

The investigation, which is DCWP’s largest Paid Safe and Sick Leave investigation to date, found that the agencies, among other state and city violations:

• Failed to pay employees on leave
• Disciplined and/or fired employees who used unscheduled leave
• Required employees to submit documentation justifying the use of leave, even if the leave was for less than three days
• Violated the New York Labor Law by refusing to pay overtime for workers who worked more than 40 hours a week
• Miscalculated overtime rates
• Refused to pay workers for time spent traveling between patient homes

Under the settlement, Intergen and Amazing must pay up to $18.8 million in restitution in two phases, according to the news release. In phase one, the companies will pay $2,032,400 to compensate the 6,500 employees impacted by the violations of the Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law, and the four employees illegally fired for using paid sick leave. They will also pay $5,200,00 to compensate approximately 12,000 for violations of the New York Labor Law.

In phase two, which the city said is currently being negotiated in coordination with a private lawsuit, live-in workers will receive a maximum payout of $11,540,000.

The companies will also be required to implement new policies in compliance with city and state regulations to correct its prior violations; stop requiring employees to submit documentation to justify their sick leave; train employees on new policies; post and distribute the Notice of Employee Rights and obtain a written, dated acknowledgement of receipt from each employee; appoint a compliance officer; and create a new employee manual with updated policies to be submitted to the Attorney General and DCWP. The new manual must also be translated, and distributed to all employees.

“In New York City, we fight to protect all workers—including those who work in people’s homes,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Home health care workers care for our families and not only deserve Paid Safe and Sick Leave—it’s their right. To any company in New York City that thinks they can get away with withholding workers’ rights and violating our laws: we will hold you accountable.”

“Home health aides are on the front lines serving the most vulnerable in our communities, yet these agencies denied them the most basic form of dignity and respect: fair pay for a hard day’s work,” said Attorney General Laetitia James. “These hardworking New Yorkers not only deserve the pay that was unfairly denied to them, but also the assurance that this won’t happen again — and that’s exactly what this agreement will do. I will continue my commitment to protect working families and workers’ rights as well as their wallets. Let this be a warning to all employers: exploitative and illegal labor practices will not be tolerated in New York.”

“Home health aides provide vital support to our vulnerable loved ones,” said DCWP Commissioner Peter A. Hatch. “Sadly these invaluable workers often face exploitative working conditions that violate important labor protections. We are committed to ensuring home health aides are treated fairly and will hold accountable any home care agency that denies workers their rights or punishes them for exercising their rights. We urge any worker who believes they have been treated unjustly to contact us so we can help protect their rights. I want to thank Attorney General James and her Office for their partnership in this important investigation.”

Employees can visit nyc.gov/workers or call 311 (212-NEW-YORK outside the city) for multiple resources to learn about their labor rights.