The U.S. Department of Labor says that the ongoing nationwide effort by its Wage and Hour Division to check compliance among residential care, nursing facilities, home health services and other care-focused industry employers has made significant progress in protecting workers’ rights and protections.

Since its 2021 launch, the initiative has completed more than 1,600 investigations and identified violations in 80 percent of its reviews. These investigations recovered more than $28.6 million in back wages and damages for nearly 25,000 workers, and led to assessments of nearly $1.3 million in civil monetary penalties for employers who willfully violated federal law.

Its reviews of residential care facilities, nursing facilities and home health providers found the most common violations discovered by investigators related to failures to pay overtime or federal minimum wages or the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The initiative found violations often hurt women of color — particularly in the Black, African American, Hispanic and Asian, including Filipina, communities — who are often employed as home care aides, certified nursing aides and licensed practical nurses.

In recent months, home health care firms in Lebanon and Keene faced serious fines after the office found violations.

—JEFF FEINGOLD