1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, represented by James Reif of Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss, LLP, has asked a federal judge to uphold an arbitrator’s award establishing a $30 million wage fund with company contributions to compensate home health care workers underpaid in violation of their labor contract.
The powerful healthcare union urged the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to confirm the arbitrator’s decision that found more than 40 home health agencies violated wage and hour provisions of a collective bargaining agreement. The arbitrator’s second award mandates company-funded contributions into a special pool to reimburse workers for unpaid hours dating back to January 2019.
The arbitrator rejected companies’ efforts to reduce their share of the payment based on individual compliance levels, opting instead for per capita contributions to ensure timely restitution for all affected employees. He cited the inefficiency and delay that individualized damage assessments would cause.