SC Ambulance Service pays out more than 200k in ‘overtime violations’

(ABC Columbia/FILE) 

HANAHAN, SC – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), MedTrust Medical Transport LLC – a private ambulance service provider based in Hanahan, South Carolina has been forces to pay more than 200 thousand dollars to nearly 100 employees for overdue backpay.

According to U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), $212,493 in back wages was paid to 89 employees after officials were investigated for violating overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators say they found MedTrust Medical Transport LLC – operating as MedTrust Ambulance Services –applied an exemption from the FLSA’s overtime requirements incorrectly to many employees that the employer paid fixed salaries every biweekly pay period.

WHD tells ABC Columbia, Employees worked alternating work weeks of 48 and 72 hours, and the employer did not pay overtime due to the misapplied exemption.

WHD says their investigation determined the way employees’ schedules were set up did not meet the criteria for the exemption to apply, leaving MedTrust Ambulance Services on the hook to shell out funds for any hours employees worked over 40 in a single workweek.

Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel released a statement in regards to the investigation saying,

“Guaranteed payments that are meant to include regular and overtime pay often fail to comply with the law and can result in significant back wage liabilities,” she went on to say,

“The U.S. Department of Labor encourages all employers to reach out to us for information on how to comply with the law. These mistakes can be avoided.”