LIHU‘E — Both current and former employees of a Kaua‘i home healthcare provider are voicing their frustration over being paid extremely late or not at all for their work. Editor’s note: This is the third of a three-part series on
LIHU‘E — Both current and former employees of a Kaua‘i home
healthcare provider are voicing their frustration over being paid
extremely late or not at all for their work.
Editor’s note: This is the third of a three-part series on employees’ efforts to be paid by Hawai‘i HealthCare Professionals. The first and second parts were published in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s editions and are available online at www.thegardenisland.com.
LIHU‘E — Both current and former employees of a Kaua‘i home healthcare provider are voicing their frustration over being paid extremely late or not at all for their work.
Employee-provided documentation shows Carolyn Frutoz-de Harne, owner of Hawai‘i HealthCare Professionals, began bouncing payroll checks last year. She said it was due to a difficult financial year for her company, noting the economy, insurance reimbursement issues, poor account services at banks and internal accounting problems.
She said she warned employees that pay would be delayed, and maintains that all employees have since been paid to date. If there is anyone that has not been paid, she said, it is only because they have not “reached out” to her.
Employees say that’s simply not true, that they have tried to contact her repeatedly about missing pay, but she is never available.
Since The Garden Island began investigating this story weeks ago, Frutoz-de Harne did make herself available for two meetings with a total of three employees, during which she said office staff never relayed messages to her and said they kept poor records.
Current employee details ‘dog-eat-dog’ position at HHCP
After hearing Frutoz-de Harne blame office support staff for not informing her of payroll issues, a current employee who spoke on condition of anonymity called TGI. This individual will be referred to herein as “ACE.”
“All the office staff has been extremely supportive,” ACE said, adding that they “have gone above and beyond” for their employer.
“It’s been really hard for them.”
When asked if HHCP is behind on current employees’ pay, ACE said they did not want to provide a comment on record because they want to keep their job.
“If anyone speaks up, they get targeted as troublemakers,” ACE said.
“I think they really try to catch people up and get them paid,” ACE said. “It’s a dilemma because we really want to work and patients need us, but it’s against the law not to pay (employees) on time.
“The truth needs to be told,” ACE said. “Her slant is hurting a lot of people. I don’t think that’s the intention she had. I don’t think it’s that she doesn’t care.”
When asked why people stay around when they are not being paid, ACE said, “A lot of people are just waiting it out. There will be a check but not the funds to cover it. So it’s a race to the bank and puts people in a dog-eat-dog position.
“A lot of really wonderful people work for Carolyn, and they really shouldn’t have had to deal with this stuff,” the employee said.
“(OT1) is labeled as a troublemaker, but thank God she spoke up.” OT1 is an occupational therapist who previously worked for HHCP. Her concerns over not being paid $6,700 in wages since December were featured in Tuesday’s article.
Kaimi Kaupiko, a former HHCP bookkeeper
Kaupiko said up until last month, he did the majority of the bookkeeping for HHCP and had worked for the company for a year.
He said Frutoz-de Harne was repeatedly made aware of employees’ complaints that they were not being paid.
“I had numerous conversations with Carolyn about (OT1) not getting paid,” he said. “When I realized the problems going on there, it was well after I started working there.”
He eventually gave two weeks notice, “because it was getting out of hand.
“I was asked to go out and take private (care) collections from patients. Carolyn promised there would be better days, but I couldn’t take it anymore.”
He said the IRS is garnishing her Medicare reimbursements, and she has not issued herself a paycheck since May 2010.
He said handling her books was a constant battle. “I had a full binder of payroll taxes that were never submitted,” he said. “She would just tell me to do it this way.”
Kaupiko said her instructions often left him taking the blame for accounts going unpaid. “I just hate being blamed for stuff I didn’t do,” he said.
He said HHCP still owes him 32 hours of pay.
Public records requests and the law
The Hawai‘i Bureau of Conveyances website and a Dun & Bradstreet business report show HHCP has state and federal tax liens totaling more than $1 million.
TGI has pending requests for Medicare reimbursement records and IRS tax lien records from the state Bureau of Conveyances.
Hawai‘i Wage Payment Law states: “An employer must pay all wages due to the employer’s employees at least twice per month on regular paydays designated in advance by the employer. The earned wages of all employees shall be due and payable within seven days after the end of each pay period.”
At the end of employment, the law states: “An employer must pay an employee who is discharged their wages in full at the time of the discharge. If circumstances prevent an employer from paying an employee immediately, the employer must pay the employee no later than the follow day.”
If the employee resigned without notice, it says the employer must pay no later than the next regular payday. If resignation notice is given, wages are due the day after quitting.
The law also requires employers to keep and maintain records of hours worked and must provide employees copies of these records.
The state Department of the Attorney General said it could not comment on an ongoing investigation. When asked if that meant it is conducting an investigation, the reply was that no comment could be given. To date, none of the employees has indicated that they have been contacted by the state attorney’s office regarding the matter.
HHCP and the owner
The company started in O‘ahu 17 years ago, expanded to Maui in 1996, to Kaua‘i in 2000, and incorporated in 2005.
Frutoz-de Harne said she downsized her staff from 105 employees in mid-2010 to 55 because of delays in Medicare reimbursements.
Employees said most workers have quit because they were not being paid, and that the number of remaining employees is closer to 30 for both the O‘ahu and Kaua‘i branches.
HHCP recently closed its Maui location, but Frutoz-de Harne says she plans to keep the O‘ahu and Kaua‘i offices open. HHCP is one of two Medicare-certified home healthcare service providers on Kaua‘i, she said.
In addition to its office support staff, it employs occupational therapists, physical therapists, licensed nursing assistants, certified nursing assistants, physical therapy assistants, registered nurses , licensed practical nurses and “chore helpers.”
During an initial interview with Carolyn Frutoz-de Harne on Feb. 11 in her modest Lihu‘e offices, she said, “Everyone has gotten paid … Christie and (OT1) have been paid … I think the longest anybody has had to wait was a week and a half.”
She also said she warned employees last May that their paychecks would be delayed because the company was having financial problems.
“People have choices,” she said. “They didn’t have to stay.”
When asked whether the bank contacted her about bouncing payroll checks and insufficient funds, Frutoz-de Harne and Linda Gill laughed and said no, the bank had not made them aware of the issue.
She said there were probably five people who had returned checks and they were reissued right away.
When asked whether she had ignored former employees’ attempts to contact her regarding unpaid wages, Frutoz-de Harne said, “I think people who know me know better than that.
“God knows I’ve given up my own pay so everyone else could get paid and I’ve even paid people out of my own personal account,” she said. “… I don’t have to do this. I can close the door at any time. My husband calls it volunteer work and thinks I should quit … The last six months, we’ve put a lot of our own personal funds into this.”
But she said that after the financial setbacks of last year, things are starting to turn around. She praised her new bank and her new accountant and said she has found an investor on O‘ahu.
Her investor, Business Factoring Hawai‘i, provides financing for businesses facing a “cash crunch,” its website says. “You can qualify for factor financing regardless of your credit history. Our credit decisions are based on your customer’s credit rating and their ability to pay your invoices.”
She said she plans to move back to O‘ahu soon and focus on the financial aspects of her business, and will leave someone else in charge of her Kaua‘i office.
In the meantime, she said she is hiring.
• Vanessa Van Voorhis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or by e-mailing vvanvoorhis@ kauaipubco.com.
