Wednesday, October 06, 2010
At least twenty federal contractors have been caught violating labor, environmental and other federal regulations without losing any business with Uncle Sam.
An audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) uncovered 15 companies—which made a combined $6 billion in 2009 from the U.S. government—that were cited in the last five years for failing to follow wage, health and safety, or collective bargaining laws.
Seven of the businesses were dinged for hiring illegal immigrants, breaching environmental standards or defrauding the Medicare and Medicaid systems. But none of them were suspended or debarred from contract work.
Most of the contractors had deals with the Department of Defense. They also contracted with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, the General Services Administration and NASA.
One food supply company was fined after an employee died when he was asphyxiated after falling into a pit of poultry debris.
A security company agreed to pay about $290,000 in back wages to more than 400 African-Americans as the result of a discrimination suit.
GAO did not publish the names of the contractors.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Labor Law Violators Raking in Federal Contracts (by Robert Brodsky, Government Executive)
Highlights: Assessments and Citations of Federal Labor Law Violations by Selected Federal Contractors (Government Accountability Office) (pdf)
Assessments and Citations of Federal Labor Law Violations by Selected Federal Contractors (Government Accountability Office) (pdf)
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