Huge federal contractor failed to pay workers $100 million in wages, union says

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By Danielle Paquette April 23

One of the country's largest federal contractors has been accused of underpaying about 10,000 workers who run help hotlines for public health insurance programs, including the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, by up to $100 million over the past five years, according to four complaints filed Monday to the Labor Department.

The complaint brought by the Communications Workers of America alleges that General Dynamics Information Technology misclassified employees at call centers in Kentucky, Florida, Arizona and Texas to suppress their wages.

The union, which does not represent the workers, said the contractor hired or promoted workers into roles that require special training but paid them below government-set rates for the jobs they performed. The complaint covers the period since 2013, when GDIT started a $4 billion, 10-year contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

GDIT said in a statement: “The company takes seriously our obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Act. Our call center employees are not represented by the Communications Workers of America. Similar to other federal contractors, the company is subject to routine compliance reviews and as with any notice received it will engage with the relevant parties including our employees and the Department of Labor.”

FULL story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/04/23/huge-federal-contractor-failed-to-pay-workers-100-million-in-wages-union-says/?can_id=a9cf23302332fb8fa0573509116ae7fe&email_referrer=email_343331&email_subject=cwa-member-honored-for-bravery-in-waffle-house-shooting&link_id=21&noredirect=on&source=email-cwa-member-honored-for-bravery-in-waffle-house-shooting&utm_term=.0703e790c4c0