Avera McKennan to pay more than $70,000 in back wages

Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in Sioux Falls has agreed to pay $70,157 in back wages to 487 current and former employees at 12 of its health care facilities after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found employees were not compensated correctly for work breaks, in violation of the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Investigators found that Avera McKennan deducted time from employees’ hours for meal and rest breaks that were less than 30 minutes in duration.