Molina must repay $700K in overtime
409 case managers incorrectly exempted
Molina Healthcare of New Mexico has been ordered to pay more than $700,000 in overtime wages to 409 employees at its Albuquerque site, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Long Beach, Calif.based Molina, which has more than 800 employees in Albuquerque, had incorrectly exempted case managers from overtime pay, the department said, citing provisions in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act
“Denying workers their hard-earned overtime pay not only hurts them and their families, (but) it also places law-abiding employers at a competitive disadvantage,” Betty Campbell, regional administrator of the department’s Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest, said in a news release. “This case should encourage other employers in this industry to take a close look at their own pay practices to ensure they are not paying workers in violation of the law.”
Molina provides managed health-care services under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplace. It has more than 3 million members in 11 states and in Puerto Rico.
Molina not only agreed to pay a total of $701,855 in back wages, it also said it would provide training to managers on the issue.
“Molina Healthcare of New Mexico has always, and will continue, to strive to be an exemplary organization as we have done for the past 18 years,” Leidy Arevalo, a company spokeswoman, said in a statement. “We are committed to providing a stable work environment to our employees with equal opportunity for personal and professional growth.”
Last summer, Molina executives held a ribbon-cutting to celebrate relocation of the company’s 800-strong workforce from two north Albuquerque locations to the seven-story Plaza Campana at 400 Tijeras SE, a stone’s throw from Civic Plaza. The location handles Molina corporate data functions as well as health care-related services.