1/ The elder care industry is a booming, multibillion-dollar business.

But while some operators get rich, rampant wage theft has held many caregivers in poverty.

Some of them effectively make $2 to $3.50 per hour to work around the clock. revealnews.org/article/caregi…

2/ First, some context:

Baby boomers are living longer than ever, thanks to medical advances. So more people are seeking alternatives to costly nursing homes.

There were about 29,000 residential care communities nationwide, and about 300,000 full-time caregivers, in 2016.

3/ Operators’ profit margins can be huge. Some can make as much as $20,000 a month.

For many violators of labor laws, these margins can hinge on the exploitation of caregivers.

4/ This exploitation takes many forms:

Workers describe sleeping in hallways and garages, on couches and the floor.

One care home operator deducted $25 a day from caregivers’ paychecks for “lodging.” documentcloud.org/documents/5000…

5/ Many caregivers told reporter @jennifergollan that they rise before daybreak to cook meals, shower residents and scrub toilets. They’re deprived of sleep at night because they must dispense painkillers, change diapers, reposition residents to prevent bedsores, and more.

6/ Days off? For some, those are rare.

Even then, some caregivers must pay their substitutes. Although the cause was unknown, two recounted having miscarriages after their bosses refused to allow them time off or to stop lifting heavy residents.

7/ Because these workers often live where they work, they are under the watchful eye of their bosses. They are sometimes bullied into not cooperating with investigators. In some cases, care-home operators have threatened to report undocumented workers to authorities.

8/ Human trafficking – in which workers, particularly Filipinos, are coerced, manipulated and exploited – also is not uncommon, according to prosecutors and attorneys.

Here’s a recent case from San Mateo, California: mercurynews.com/2018/09/07/own…

9/ “Their entire business model is predicated on not making payroll,” said @tiakoonse, the legal and policy research manager at @UCLALabor. “It relies on people being willing to work for 24 hours a day for less than a dollar an hour. Only trafficked people will put up with that.”

10/ @jennifergollan spoke to dozens of caregivers for this story. Each had a powerful story to tell.

The case of Sonia Deza was particularly illuminating.

11/ For four years, she rose every morning at 5 a.m. to cook, clean, wash and medicate her charges at Scienn Hail Home Care IV in Antioch, California. Most days, she said she couldn’t sit down again until 10 p.m.

12/ She had to work at night, too, putting wandering dementia patients to bed and taking care of others.

*She rarely took a day off.
*She earned about $2 per hour.
*She feared she’d be fired if she complained.

13/ In 2013, federal regulators ordered Deza’s bosses, Glenda and Rommel Publico, to pay Deza and 21 other workers a total of more than $133,000 in back wages for violating federal minimum wage and overtime laws. documentcloud.org/documents/5838…

14/ The Publicos wrote Deza two checks, totaling more than $17,700 in back wages. But rather than letting her deposit them, Deza said that Rommel Publico demanded the money back.

15/ On 2 different days, he picked her up from work and drove her to the bank. She cashed the checks, then handed him the money. He signed a note detailing the transaction.

He allowed her to keep $1,000 of the nearly $18,000 that was rightfully hers.

He called it a “bonus.”

16/ Prosecutors from the Contra Costa County district attorney’s office have charged the Publicos with multiple felonies, including grand theft and tax fraud.

The case is pending. documentcloud.org/documents/5914…

17/ Across the U.S., states are charged with regulating board-and-care facilities. State and federal regulators say privately that they need many more investigators and lawyers to chase down scofflaws and force them to pay.

18/ @jennifergollan tried to talk to …

*Top officials at the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.
*The acting director of the California Department of Social Services.

Both declined to be interviewed.

19/ Meanwhile, @jennifergollan found at least 20 companies in California providing care for the elderly, disabled and mentally ill that continue to operate illegally.

20/ We’re staying on this story. For the latest updates and impact, subscribe to our newsletter: revealnews.org/newsletter.

Got a tip? Email jgollan [at] revealnews [dot] org.