A Philadelphia healthcare staffing firm must pay $9.3 million in back wages and liquidated damages in a case involving 1,756 employees under a consent judgment announced today by the US Department of Labor.
The consent judgement requires US Medical Staffing Inc. to pay $4.65 million in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages as well as a civil money penalty of $700,000 for the willful nature of its violations, the department reported.
US Medical Staffing denied workers overtime pay from at least Sept. 24, 2017, through at least May 22 of this year, according to the department. Authorities say the company, in some cases, falsely claimed to be a registry through which its clients solely employed the workers. In other cases, the company misclassified workers as independent contractors.
The company agreed to the consent judgement after negotiation, the department reported.
US Medical Staffing provides mental health, behavioral health and school staffing to clients in the Pennsylvania counties of Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia, according to the department.