Feds charge Norwell's Clean Harbors with underpaying workers by millions

Wheeler Cowperthwaite, The Patriot Ledger
·3 min read

CHICAGO – A Norwell company may have to pay back more than $3 million to workers and lose lucrative federal contracts after the Department of Labor accused Clean Harbors Environmental Services and its subcontractors of not paying proper overtime and wages to nearly 4,000 employees.

The Department of Labor filed a complaint with an administrative law judge in Chicago last week over a $301 million contract Clean Harbors was awarded to clean up dead chickens, excrement and feed from farms believed to be infected with the avian flu.

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Department of Labor Spokeswoman Rhonda Burke said 3,964 employees and those employed by Clean Harbors' 145 subcontractors were not paid what federal contracts and law mandated, not paid overtime and not paid for fringe benefits, totaling $3.3 million in missing wages, an average of $844 per person.

Workers who were not paid the proper overtime rate or not paid for overtime could be entitled to back pay and an equal amount in damages.

Burke said in an email the details over the amount of overtime and benefits owed to employees came from secret investigation documents.

The complaint filed by the Department of Labor lists all 3,964 people whom the department says are owed money. While many people weren't paid enough, others were not given overtime pay for working more than eight hours a day or more than 40 hours a week.

Federal contracts require those doing work under the contract are paid the "prevailing wage," a rate at or above local minimum wages, determined by the Department of Labor, for a given sector and area.

Read the complaint: The Department of Labor's complaint against Clean Harbors

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The company also did not keep proper records of employees timecards, officials said in the complaint.

Clean Harbors Environmental Services was supposed to audit its 145 subcontractors to make sure they were following federal labor law, Burke said in the press release.

During an avian flu outbreak in 2015, the National Turkey Federation played a pivotal role in explaining to Congress what turkey producers were doing to combat the virus and hearing legislators' expectations of the industry.
During an avian flu outbreak in 2015, the National Turkey Federation played a pivotal role in explaining to Congress what turkey producers were doing to combat the virus and hearing legislators' expectations of the industry.

In addition to at least $3.3 million in back pay, Clean Harbors Environmental Services could also be denied federal contracts for thee years following a judgement.

Clean Harbors Environmental Services' vice-president of investor relations, James Buckley, said in astatement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture set the prevailing wage for the avian flu cleanup.

"While we strongly disagree with the Department of Labor’s contention that the work was subject to a different prevailing wage determination that was provided after the work was successfully completed, we intend to work with the DOL and the USDA to resolve the matter in an amicable fashion," Buckley said in the statement.

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The national non-governmental organization Good Jobs First, which tracks federal penalties and violations, reports $19.9 million worth of penalties for Clean Harbors Environmental Services and its subsidiaries since 2000 from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other federal and state regulatory agencies.

Clean Harbors Environmental Services is a publicly traded company with an estimated 14,400 employees.

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@patriotledger.com.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Labor department claims Norwell company stiffed 3,964 workers