WASHINGTON — Georgetown University will pay $550,000 to resolve allegations that it required staff working in research settings to work unpaid overtime, D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb announced Tuesday.
Schwalb said $500,000 is for overtime claims to employees and the other $50,000 is to cover the District's investigation costs.
A former Georgetown University employee who was part of the Attorney General's investigation talked to WUSA9 on condition of anonymity:
"I'm relieved that the settlement came to light because this is honestly, not just the Georgetown problem, but rather a systemic problem with a lot of well-renowned research universities across our country. It was frustrating, because there's definitely, especially in academic research, there's a culture of intimidation. I was a research assistant for the university. I, like probably many others were fresh out of undergraduate hoping to move on to higher education. A lot of times, the reason why we've worked overtime is because we were coerced into 'this is how your future will be,' or 'you're doing this for your future so you can get into a higher education degree.'"
The AG's office said Georgetown will establish a fund through which workers can claim the wages they are legally owed. The university will also pay the appropriate overtime to all non-exempt employees, according to Schwalb.
According to the Attorney General's Office, in March 2022, they received a complaint about Georgetown’s overtime practices through its workers’ rights tipline.
After an investigation, the AG's office said it determined that "from March 1, 2020, to the present, staff employees working at the Georgetown University Medical Center and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences were required to perform work off-the-clock, without compensation."
The AG's office says it sent surveys to nearly 700 current and former employees asking whether they’d been required to work unpaid overtime.
They got 102 responses. About 46% reported having worked uncompensated overtime, with a median amount of unpaid overtime reported per employee of $2,160.
"We are deeply committed to ensuring all hourly employees are paid for all hours worked," Georgetown said in an email to staff. "We are taking immediate action to ensure that all managers and employees understand and follow applicable laws and policies regarding time reporting and payment for hours worked."
Schwalb's office said Georgetown University cooperated with their investigation and has agreed to take the following steps as part of a resolution:
- Pay up to $500,000 in overtime claims to employees, working with a third-party claims administrator to ensure eligible workers receive the payments they are due.
- Each affected worker will receive twice the amount of unpaid wages they are owed.
- Pay $50,000 to the District to cover investigation costs.
- Pay overtime to all non-exempt workers going forward at the legally required rate of 1.5 times the workers’ base rate of pay for all hours worked above 40 hours in a week.
- Provide employees with training that explains that they are entitled to payment at 1.5 times their base rate of pay for each hour they work over 40 hours in a week and that informs them that complaints may be filed with OAG by emailing workers@dc.gov.
- Provide direct supervisors of hourly staff employees with training regarding appropriate timekeeping practices, prohibitions on off-the-clock work, overtime, and Georgetown’s non-retaliation policy.
The former Georgetown University employee added, "I would have been able to actually put money into things like saving up for a house, because university money is not great money. Everybody who works in this industry knows that. But I was getting paid about $40,000 a year, the last year I worked there, and being able to get that overtime pay would have allowed me to at least live. Yeah, I would have been able to do something other than paycheck to paycheck living."
Georgetown's human resources department sent the following email to university staff:
Dear Colleagues,
Georgetown values the contributions of all employees to the University’s mission, and we are committed to ensuring that all employees are compensated for the work they perform. The University’s policies on work hours and pay practices (Section 800) and Just Employment Policy reflect this core commitment. Hourly employees (also referred to as non-exempt employees) are responsible for recording all time worked, and their managers are required to review time reports and confirm that they are accurate and include all time worked.
Recent Time Reporting Issue
We have learned that certain hourly staff employees at the Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) have reported that they worked time that was not reflected on the timesheets submitted to the University (“off the clock” work). Georgetown has been working with the DC Office of the Attorney General to cooperate fully in an investigation relating to this matter, which arose out of concerns relating to hourly staff employees in research lab settings at GUMC and GSAS.
We will compensate affected employees consistent with a settlement with the DC Office of the Attorney General. GUMC and GSAS hourly staff employees who were employed during the pandemic between March 1, 2020 - June 13, 2023, and who worked time that was not reflected on their time sheets will be compensated for any hours worked that were not previously paid through a claims procedure. The University has appointed a third-party administrator to process these claims. The administrator will be directly contacting relevant employees in the weeks ahead. You can learn more about the settlement process and how to file a claim if you are eligible and believe you were impacted here.
We are deeply committed to ensuring all hourly employees are paid for all hours worked. We are taking immediate action to ensure that all managers and employees understand and follow applicable laws and policies regarding time reporting and payment for hours worked.
Improving Time Reporting Through Additional Training
Going forward, we will require all hourly staff employees and their managers to complete an enhanced training on timekeeping to ensure that they understand and follow the spirit and letter of laws and policies related to compensation. We have also developed a new Time Tracking web page that includes helpful information about the University’s policies and timekeeping process and about who to contact for questions or support.
We encourage any employee who has questions or concerns regarding time reporting to submit a Human Resources Help Ticket. Please include as much detailed information as possible so that we are able to route your request appropriately. You may also contact your area-specific HR Business Partner for support with University policy and how wage and hour laws apply to your area. Additionally, employees can file a report through our Compliance Helpline, which can be anonymous if desired.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter, and for your partnership in ensuring that both in policy and in culture we value and respect all of our colleagues.
Sincerely,
Tony Kinslow, JD., MA.
Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
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