Health Care Workers Sue Hospitals Over Wage Deduction

By The WBUR Newsroom
Sep 4, 2009, 2:50 PM
2 Comments

More than 500 employees of major health care systems have joined a class-action lawsuit accusing their employers of failing to pay them for all hours worked.

Attorney Patrick Solomon said that one of the ways the hospitals deprive workers of wages is through a payroll-deduction system.

“They automatically deduct 30 minutes or an hour from an employee’s paycheck and assume they went on their lunch break,” Solomon said, “when quite regularly the employees work without a lunch break due to the demands of their position.”

The suit was brought by workers at Partners HealthCare, Caritas Christi, Boston Medical Center, CareGroup and UMass Memorial Health Care.

Boston Medical Center has issued a statement saying that it compensates its employees fairly and abides by all wage and employment laws.

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http://yahoo.com L

This is very true, being a healthcare professional I know the demands of healthcare. I have several co workers who do not take their lunch breaks, EVER but they still have it deducted and I think that is so unfair knowing the high stress things that we deal with on a daily basis. Personally I take my lunch break each and everyday because I need some time of relief or calm within my day to make me a happy camper. I guess to each his own…..
AKA

Health care reform will fix this. It is not the only industry that cheats their employees. Retail is notorious for it but get away with it because if they stand up for their rights they get fired for some other reason. Also, people who work for charity/religious/family based organizations are told to give up their holidays and have to take time off so they do not have to pay extra.

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Health Care Workers Sue Hospitals Over Wage Deduction