The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry's Bureau of Labor Law Compliance was successful in obtaining more than $745,000 in unpaid wages for laid off-workers at Infinite Care, Inc., in Philadelphia. Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS), which represented a number of the affected employees, commended Labor & Industry for its efforts.

The direct care workers at Infinite Care, which provided services to severely disabled individuals needing care in their homes, lost their jobs in March 2015 and were not paid their wages for their final two weeks of work when Infinite Care was indicted for Medicaid fraud and closed with little warning to the employees. The Bureau of Labor Law Compliance worked to recover paychecks for these workers from the owner of Infinite Care, Inc. Paychecks were mailed by the commonwealth from Infinite Care, Inc. to the more than 1,300 affected workers on July 10, 2015.

"Labor & Industry worked to get these workers the wages they earned and rightfully deserve," Labor & Industry Secretary Kathy Manderino said. "The wages will help the workers and their families get back on the right track after an upsetting setback, and the money going into the local economy will help to strengthen the area's economic future."

The Bureau of Labor Law Compliance receives complaints and claims over labor law violations and wage disputes from workers in the state. The overreaching goal of investigations is to protect workers and ensure that they receive the accurate compensation they earned.

"Kudos to the department for resolving the problem of unpaid wages for so many workers across the commonwealth," said CLS Supervising Attorney Suzanne J. Young. "Low-income wage earners need to be promptly paid for work performed; such workers don't often have a cushion which might help them wait for payment."

Community Legal Services, Inc., established in 1966, has provided legal services to more than one million low-income Philadelphiaresidents, representing them in individual cases and class actions, and advocating on their behalf for improved regulations and laws that affect low-income Philadelphians. CLS assists more than 11,500 Philadelphia residents with legal problems each year.

The Bureau of Labor Law Compliance can be reached by phone at 800-932-0665 or online, at www.dli.state.pa.us, and click on "Labor Law Compliance" under "Frequently Accessed Services."