CEC, Three Government Agencies Sign Agreement Paying Back Wages to Delaney Hall ICE Staff
WEST CALDWELL, N.J., Sept. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Community Education Centers, Inc. (CEC) of West Caldwell, N.J., announced today that the company has signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to pay back wages for approximately 150 current and former operations counselors at the company's Delaney Hall in Newark, N.J. The agreement totals approximately $4.8 million and will be fully funded by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
The settlement comes in response to a complaint filed with DOL concerning the exact job status of the employees. Delaney Hall housed detainees under ICE's custody, subject to a contract between ICE and Essex County, N.J. In the view of ICE, Essex County and CEC, the employees were operations counselors who were employed under a collective bargaining agreement and did not have the duties or skill set for detention officers. The DOL argues that even though the employees were in a collective bargaining unit, they were effectively detention officers who should receive a significantly higher hourly wage.
As part of the settlement, all the parties have come to an agreement that the employees will be paid at the detention officer rate on a retroactive basis. The parties also agreed that there was no evidence of wrongdoing by any party and the original classifications and payments were made in good faith. All communication and distribution activities related to the back pay will be handled by the DOL directly.
"We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which resolves the matter to the satisfaction of all four parties," said James E. Hyman, Chief Executive Officer of CEC.
Any press inquiries can be made to Charles Seigel, Public Affairs Manager at (858) 729-3303 or [email protected].
SOURCE Community Education Centers, Inc.
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