News Release

U.S. DEPT. OF LABOR ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF 1998 HAWAII HEALTH CARE INITIATIVE

The Wage & Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor announced today the results of it's Fiscal Year 1998 Health Care Initiative for Hawaii. In conjunction with the national Health Initiative Program, the Hawaii office, utilizing scientific sampling methods, conducted full investigations under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 24 random predetermined health care providers on Oahu (1692 beds), ranging from full-service hospitals to small residential nursing care homes.

Health care providers, as well as most private employers, fall under the purview of' the Fair Labor Standards Act which guarantees employees the right to minimum wage and overtime, provides protections for children in the workforce, and requires that certain employee records be kept by employers.

The industry was found to be in compliance only 46% of the time. Wage & Hour collected and distributed back wages of $88,251 for unpaid overtime to 249 employees.

Additionally, a Wage & Hour investigation of a residential psychiatric health care provider,

initiated by an employee complaint and conducted outside of the survey, resulted in the payment of $65,362 in back wages for unpaid overtime to 61 employees.

According, to Assistant District Director David Boback, "this initiative was significant for Hawaii because it placed an enforcement emphasis on low wage earners. These are the people who are really hurt the most by Hawaii's languishing economy. So it's very important that they are paid every dollar they have coming to them under the law." Boback also stated, "this effort gives us a baseline that we can compare future compliance levels to and provides us a tool in which to prioritize future enforcement activities and optimize the expenditure of limited enforcement resources."

The Wage & Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor, in addition to the Fair Labor Standards Act, enforces a number of federal labor laws, including the Family Medical Leave Act and the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act.