A US District Court judge has ordered AgeWay Senior Care Inc., a family-owned senior home care company and residential facility centered in the Bay Area, to pay at least $134,682 in back wages and damages to 13 Filipino care givers working in and around Silicon Valley, Calif.
The owner and proprietor, Ana Dayeh, was ordered to pay back wages to those employees whom, investigators found, received as little as $3.25 per hour worked.
The investigation by the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division also found that the Filipino workers also received no overtime pay for hours that exceeded a 40-hour workweek. On average, the care givers worked as many as 53 hours per week.
“Caregivers in residential care home facilities work extremely hard taking care of our nation’s elderly, sick, and disabled,” said Susana Blanco, the Labor Department district director in San Francisco.
She continued to say that these working conditions are “unacceptable” and “illegal.”
AgeWay’s website states that it is committed to serving and enriching the well-being of the elderly, and believes that “trust, commitment, and understanding of your needs are the foundation to lasting and mutually beneficial relationships.”
Under the terms of a consent judgment, AgeWay was ordered to take specific steps to remain in compliance as a senior facility, and to inform its employees of their rights under the law.
According to the District Court, the company must also reform its recordkeeping procedures to make sure that wages are in agreement with minimum wage regulations in the future.
(With reports from Inquirer, San Francisco Appeal, US Dept. of Labor)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend October 18-21, 2014 Sec. A pg.1)
