Department of Labor Survey

[Theresa A Lang]

It has been some time since we discussed this issue on the discussion group- but I thought forwarding of this email was appropriateness as the issue of salary versus hourly is likely to rear its ugly head again when these results are released   Theresa Lang Specialized Medical Services, Inc. Milwaukee WI   -----Original Message----- From: Maria Schmidt [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 12:40 PM To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: IHCA Alert: DoL Compliance Survey to Commence IHCA Alert   IHCA Alert # 04-03                                                             March 5, 2004   DoL Compliance Survey to Commence   The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (DOL) has just announced plans to conduct a “statistically valid investigation-based national compliance survey of nursing homes and residential care facilities,” which will include assisted living facilities and other types of residential care settings.  The nationwide survey will determine long-term care employers’ compliance with the minimum wage, overtime, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).     According to DOL officials, the investigation of both assisted living and nursing facilities will begin in about two weeks and continue through the end of May.  An outside contractor will tally the results and investigation findings might be released as soon as late July.   Investigators will measure both the number of FLSA violations and the severity of those violations.  In other words, DOL not only will examine whether an employer is in or out of compliance, but also will examine the degree to which the employer is out of compliance, e.g. number and amount of back pay awards.    Nursing facilities and assisted living residences are part of a multi-year DOL initiative targeting industries with low-wage workers and also includes the garment industry and agriculture.  This new investigation will mark DOL’s third investigation of nursing facilities and assisted living/residential care communities since the investigations began in 1997.  The 2004 investigative survey is designed to measure what affect DOL’s educational and compliance efforts have had on FLSA compliance levels in assisted living and nursing facility settings since the last surveys were conducted in 2000 and 2001.   Unlike the past DOL investigations where assisted living/residential care and nursing facilities were examined separately, DOL will conduct a single, simultaneous investigation of both professions utilizing the same methodology as was used in past investigations, including the same industrial classifications or “SIC codes.”  However, there will be no recidivism study (reexamining those found out of compliance in previous investigations) according to DOL officials we spoke to yesterday.   In addition, the sample size will be smaller for the assisted living/residential care sector and nursing facility sector when compared to previous studies when each sector was examined independently.   In 1997 and 2000, DOL found FLSA compliance levels in nursing facility settings of 70 and 40 percent respectively.  (While DOL reported a 40 percent compliance level in 2000, our further analysis showed that the level was 55 percent when we utilized the same criteria that was used in 1997.)  For assisted living and residential care, DOL found compliance levels of 57 percent in 1998 and 60 percent in 2001.   NEW EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE RELASED Accompanied by the announcement of the new investigation was the release of three new fact sheets specific to the long term care setting.  AHCA and NCAL have worked with the DOL over the last two years to develop these fact sheets on the three most common areas where DOL has found violations in long-term care settings, including child labor, hours worked, and overtime.  The guidance was developed as a direct result of concerns that NCAL and AHCA raised in the late 1990s about DOL’s generic compliance information for employers that did not relate to long term care settings or workers.  Several NCAL and AHCA members reviewed the guidance when it was in the final stages of being drafted.  We believe the new fact sheets will help providers better understand FLSA requirements.    All three fact sheets are posted on NCAL’s and AHCA’s Members Only Web sites at www.ncal.org and www.ahca.org.  The fact sheets have not yet been posted on DOL’s Web site but should be soon.  Once they are posted by DOL, they can be found at www.wagehour.dol.gov and www.youthrules.dol.gov.  Compliance with the FLSA is important and we are asking all AHCA/NCAL affiliates to help disseminate these links to their member facilities.    We will keep you posted on all developments with the DOL investigation.    Reproduction of this newsletter is expressly prohibited without the permission of the Illinois Health Care Association ©Illinois Health Care Association 2004       Maria R. Schmidt Chief Operating Officer Illinois Health Care Association (217) 528-6455 [EMAIL PROTECTED]     CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE This electronic mail transmission, including any attachments, contains information that is confidential, privileged and may constitute non-public information. This message is intended to be conveyed only to the designated recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient of this message, do not read it. Please immediately notify the sender that you have received this message in error and delete this message. The unauthorized use, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or reproduction of this message or the information contained in this message or the taking of any action in reliance on it is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.