Savannah River Nuclear Solutions to pay employees in wage discrimination settlement

Investigators find federal contractor underpaid some female and African American workers

 

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions will pay $234,895 and review its personnel policies to resolve allegations of systemic pay discrimination at its site in Aiken. A compliance review by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs found that the management company for the Savannah River nuclear site discriminated against women in some engineering, technical and administrative positions. The review also determined that African Americans were underpaid in certain operation specialist positions.

"Workers often don't know how their pay compares with that of their colleagues, so discrimination like this can go undetected. That's why OFCCP's ability to conduct audits of contractors' pay practices is critical to closing pay gaps based on race and gender," said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu, who represents the department on President Obama's National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force.

OFCCP investigators determined that from 2009 to 2010, Savannah River paid 57 female employees less than their male counterparts, and 15 African American employees less than their white counterparts. The agency found a statistically significant difference in pay even after taking into account legitimate factors affecting pay. The company denied liability, but entered into a conciliation agreement to resolve the alleged violations.

"Women and African Americans are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics professions. It is disturbing that at Savannah River, we found that many were employed in a STEM job, but were paid less than male or white counterparts because of discrimination," said OFCCP Southeast Regional Director Samuel Maiden.

Executive Order 11246 mandates that federal contractors must not discriminate in pay or other compensation on the basis of sex or race. Savannah River is a federal contractor.

In addition to back pay, the company will evaluate whether promotion decisions, performance evaluation ratings, procedures for assigning work, training opportunities, leave policies, assigning applicants to jobs, and limiting job transfers have a negative effect on compensation of women and African Americans.

Savannah River will also develop new policies to eliminate practices that affect compensation of women and African Americans adversely. The company will conduct an annual compensation analysis during the term of the conciliation agreement. If the analysis shows systemic race- or gender-based pay disparities, Savannah will increase the salaries of women and African Americans.

A partnership of Fluor Corp., Honeywell International Inc. and Newport News Nuclear Inc., Savannah River Nuclear Solutions has a contract to maintain and operate the Savannah River site, a nuclear reservation built in the 1950s. It is the only source for new tritium gas for the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and the corporate laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy's environmental management work, which includes nuclear material disposition, waste management and environmental cleanup. Obligated contract amounts range from $2.5 billion in 2009 to $948 million in 2014 and more than $500 million in 2015.

Source: DOL

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform: a Moral and Economic Imperative

“Our beautiful America was built by a nation of strangers. From a hundred different places or more they have poured forth…joining and blending in one mighty and irresistible tide. The land flourished because it was fed from so many different sources – because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and people.”

– President Lyndon Johnson, October 3, 1965

“Immigration makes us stronger. It keeps us vibrant. It keeps us hungry. It keeps us prosperous. It is part of what makes this such a dynamic country. And if we want to keep attracting the best and the brightest that the world has to offer, then we need to a better job of welcoming them.”

– President Barack Obama, March 25, 2013

With these words from two great American Presidents in mind, I traveled to Milwaukee and Chicago yesterday to discuss comprehensive immigration reform with community and business leaders and immigrant advocates. In two cities that express deep pride about their immigrant histories, I was reminded that the American story is — at its core — the story of people from every nation, all races, and a multiplicity of ethnicities. The risk takers. The adventurers. The liberty seekers. The freedom lovers. They come to the U.S. in search of opportunity, to work towards a better life for themselves and their families, and to help renew their new home: America.
 
This is the story of my family, and I expect it is the story of many other families, as well. My grandparents came from Eastern Europe — Russia, Moldova, Austria-Hungary — in the beginning of the 20^th Century. My mother’s father and his brother walked from Russia to Hamburg, Germany to escape the Czar’s tyranny and find their places in steerage aboard a ship to the United States. I suspect they couldn’t have dreamed that one day their grandson and grandnephew would sit in the Cabinet of the President of the United States.
 
President Obama has made clear that the time has come for comprehensive legislation that fixes a broken immigration system and strengthens the American economy. The community leaders in Milwaukee and Chicago echoed his view as they spoke in human, personal, and evocative terms — discussing families separated by thousands of miles and torn apart without recourse, and young people desperate to step out of the shadows into their American lives.
 
Advocates from immigrant communities with roots in Central and South America, Eastern Europe, Africa and all parts of Asia shared strikingly similar experiences, and the same aspirations and concerns. And while everyone around the table agreed on the moral and social justice arguments for immigration reform, we also spoke of the economic case for fixing the system.
 
The President has said that our immigration policy defines who we are as a country, but also helps to determine how we will grow our economy in the coming years. Immigrants have been a foundation of U.S. economic strength for decades — failure to fix our immigration system would represent a loss of that advantage in a global economy.

Immigrants help drive American innovation. In 2011, immigrants started 28 percent of all new businesses while accounting for only 13 percent of the population. Immigrants are substantially more likely to secure patents for new innovations and represent more than $1 trillion in consumer spending power. A study by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has concluded that immigration reform could add as much as 1.3 percent to GDP by 2016. But we need to do more to ensure that immigrants, who are educated in America, stay to create jobs in America. That’s why the President has proposed “stapling” a green card to those who receive advanced degrees in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
 
In the coming weeks and months, the discussion of comprehensive immigration reform will continue, as various proposals work their way through Congress. But the President and his administration will continue to press for reform that honors our values, making the case about all the ways that immigration enriches American life. It gives us economic, civic and cultural vitality. It keeps us on the cutting-edge. It is a unique source of national pride and dignity. It is what makes America America. Fixing our immigration system is a matter of the greatest urgency — the right thing to do morally and the smart thing to do economically.

Source: Seth Harris is the acting secretary of labor

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.