By Adam Allington, St. Louis Public Radio
St. Louis, MO – One of the region's largest health care providers, SSM Health care, has agreed to pay out $1.7 million in back pay to nurses.
The payments come after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor which found that many nurses were working through lunch breaks even though they were automatically docked one-half hour.
Enrique Rodriguez works for the labor department's St. Louis office and says if employees are working through lunch breaks they are required to be paid.
"There is no requirement or federal law that says employees must be given time off for a meal," says Rodriguez. "What federal law says is in order for an employer to not consider the time to be compensable the employee must receive the time."
The back pay will be distributed among 4,000 employees.
SSM manages hospitals including Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center, St. Joseph's Hospital West, St.Mary's Health Center and DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton.