A Montgomery, Alabama-based home healthcare provider paid $532,842 in back wages and liquidated damages for misclassifying 67 employees as independent contractors, the US Department of Labor reported Nov. 14.

The company, Jennings Professional Services, paid workers straight time for all hours worked instead of overtime rates when workers were on the jobs for more than 40 hours in a week, the department said.

SIA has reached out to Jennings Professional Services for comment.

“Misclassifying employees as independent contractors is a serious problem that deprives employees of their rightful wages and benefits,” Kenneith Stripling, Wage and Hour Division district director, said in a press release.

The Wage and Hour division recovered nearly $15 million in back wages for nearly 22,000 workers in the healthcare space in the 2022 fiscal year alone, according to the department. It’s also focused on improving compliance at residential care, nursing facilities home health services and other care industry employers.