Care New England to pay $2 million for cheating workers

U.S. Department of Labor settles with Care New England over wage theft

By Alexander Castro, Rhode Island Current

Rhode Island’s second-largest hospital will pay $1.9 million in back wages and damages to 853 health care workers under a settlement announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The administrative settlement resolves a claim that during the pandemic, Warwick’s Kent County Memorial Hospital made employees work through their breaks but did not pay them adequately for the extra hours.

“The Wage and Hour Division is eager to return the $1.9 million in wages and liquidated damages we recovered to the workers who put their needs second and delivered essential care to the many people in Rhode Island who suffered during the pandemic,” Jessica Looman, the Labor Department’s wage and hour administrator, in a statement issued Friday. “An administrative resolution like this allows affected workers to collect their hard-earned wages promptly.”