UMass Memorial Medical Center, Inc. has paid $614,449 in back wages to 367
registered nurses for uncompensated overtime work the U.S. Department of Labor
said it found during an investigation at the campus in Worcester, Massachusetts.
For a Limited Time receive a
FREE Compensation Market Analysis Report! Find out how much you should be paying to attract and retain the best applicants and employees, with
customized information for your industry, location, and job.
Get Your Report Now!
The investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division covered the two-year
period from July 2000 to July 2002. The department says that nurses working
various shifts at the hospital were not regularly taking 30-minute uninterrupted
meal periods; however, the medical center automatically deducted this time from
their pay. The registered nurses were paid by the hour and thus entitled to
overtime pay under the existing and final overtime rules, the department notes.
The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recovered more than $212 million in back wages
in fiscal year (FY) 2003, a 21 percent increase over amount of FY 2002.