Congressman calls for action to combat exploitation in senior residential care industry
Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Va., has called on the nation’s top labor regulator to crack down on the rampant exploitation of caregivers in senior residential care homes, many of whom earn as little as $2 an hour to work around the clock with no days off, while some industry operators rake in millions.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Labor, Scott asked the agency to provide a full accounting of its efforts to combat the “troubling trend of wage and hour violations” in senior board-and-care homes across the U.S. It marks the federal government’s first steps to tackle the systematic abuse of mostly poor, immigrant workers in the industry.
Scott’s action was spurred by a recent two-part investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, which found that care-home operators across the nation broke minimum wage, overtime or record-keeping laws in at least 1,400 cases over the last decade. Reveal found shocking cases of human trafficking. Some workers have reported sleeping on the floor, on living room couches or in garages. Caregivers routinely are harassed and fired if they complain. Some feared for their lives.
Reveal also found that companies caught stealing from workers continue to operate illegally despite outstanding wage theft judgments, leaving scores of workers unpaid. For example, after California regulators two years ago imposed fines against one care home totaling nearly $1 million for unpaid wages and penalties, the company and its owner filed for bankruptcy. But the facility continues to operate under the same name, and five caregivers previously employed there still haven’t received any of the back wages they are owed. There are many similar cases. California regulators have the power to strip these companies of their licenses, according to legal experts contacted by Reveal. But Reveal found they’ve failed to act.
Read more: https://www.revealnews.org/article/congressman-calls-for-action-to-combat-exploitation-in-senior-residential-care-industry/