13 Filipino care givers in Silicon Valley recover $135K in stolen wages

September Signing: Deputy Consul General Jaime Ramon Ascalon and Wage and Hour Division Denver District Director Charles Frasier exchange copies of the signed alliance arrangement. Witnessing the signing ceremony were NaFFAA Executive Director Giselle Rushford, Crosswind Church Lead Pastor Ric Doguiles and former NaFFAA Regional Chair Donna Lavigne. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

September Signing: Deputy Consul General Jaime Ramon Ascalon and Wage and Hour Division Denver District Director Charles Frasier exchange copies of the signed alliance arrangement. Witnessing the signing ceremony were NaFFAA Executive Director Giselle Rushford, Crosswind Church Lead Pastor Ric Doguiles and former NaFFAA Regional Chair Donna Lavigne. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S District Court judge has ordered a senior care facility to pay $134,682 in back wages and damages to 13 Filipino care givers who worked at the company’s residential care facilities for the elderly in and around Silicon Valley, California.

Ageway Senior Care Inc. and its owner, Ana Dayeh, were ordered to pay the back wages to the Filipino workers who, US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found, received as little as $3.25 per hour worked.

The workers also received no overtime pay for hours that exceeded a 40-hour workweek. On average, these employees worked as many as 53 hours per week.

“Care givers in residential care home facilities work extremely hard taking care of our nation’s elderly, sick and disabled,” said Susana Blanco, the division’s district director in San Francisco.

“Taking advantage of these vulnerable workers is just as unacceptable as it is illegal.”

Under the terms of a consent judgment, Ageway also was ordered to take specific steps to remain in compliance and to inform its workers of their rights under the law.

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