California Labor Commissioner Julie Su issued citations totaling $1,625,468 to the Bedford Care Group, Inc., an assisted living provider located in Fresno, California. The Labor Commissioner cited the Bedford Care Group for labor law violations including unpaid minimum wage and overtime, meal and rest break violations, as well as the failure to issue itemized wage statements.

The Labor Commissioner ordered the Bedford Care Group to pay $1,398,890 in unpaid overtime, $17,025 in unpaid minimum wage, and $95,053 in meal and rest period premiums to eleven workers employed at six Bedford Care Group facilities in Fresno County. The Bedford Care Group, Inc. was also fined $114,500 in penalties.

The citations were issued after the Labor Commissioner’s Office interviewed and completed an audit for the eleven caregivers, spanning from November 2011 to April 2013, to determine the amount of unpaid wages owed.

Fighting wage theft has been flagged as a top priority by the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), which defends and enforces workplace rights, and the Labor Commissioner, which enforces the state Labor Code and Wage Orders.

“Wage theft” is a phrase used to refer to infractions of the California Labor Code involving the payment of wages to workers. With wage theft at the top of the enforcement agenda, employers need to make certain they’re in compliance with California’s sometimes-confusing wage and hour laws.

California Department of Industrial Relations