Cerebral palsy nonprofit wrongly told workers they couldn’t get overtime pay, feds say

A nonprofit that provides and advocates for people with cerebral palsy owed $143,404 in overtime pay to 90 of its employees, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Federal officials have recovered those back wages — “an additional one-half their regular hourly rate of pay for overtime hours” — for the affected direct service workers, according to a May 4 news release.

Authorities say United Cerebral Palsy of Greater New Orleans Inc. wrongly claimed its workers qualified for the companionship exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act and that overtime premiums were included in its payment structure.

The nonprofit did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on May 4.

“Home healthcare workers work long hours for low pay, and they deserve every dollar they earn,” Wage and Hour District Director Troy Mouton said in a statement. “This investigation .... highlights problems that remain too common in the home healthcare industry.

“The employer could have avoided this investigation with one phone call to the Wage and Hour Division,” the director based in New Orleans continued. “Instead, essential workers went without the wages they earned for far too long.”

Troy Mouton, with the Wage and Hour Division in New Orleans, said United Cerebral Palsy of Greater New Orleans did not qualify for the companionship exemption because it is a third-party employer of direct care workers.

Though third-party home healthcare providers once were able to claim this exemption, he said the regulations were revised in 2015. Now, this FLSA exemption is only available if the family member or person receiving the care hired the worker themselves and entered into an employment relationship.

“Third party employers must pay their workers the Federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at time and one-half of the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek,” according to the Wage and Hour Division.

A direct service worker is defined as “an unlicensed person who provides personal care of other services and supports to persons with disabilities or to the elderly to enhance their well-being, and who is involved in face-to-face direct contact with the person.”

United Cerebral Palsy of Greater New Orleans says its direct service workers help the developmentally disabled community with needs — including housing, transportation and recreation.

The nonprofit is an affiliate of United Cerebral Palsy.

This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Cerebral palsy nonprofit wrongly told workers they couldn’t get overtime pay, feds say."