On the recordApril 29, 2015
Hopefully, the second time is the charm. This is an amendment on behalf of myself, Representative Ellison, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. This amendment would bar taxpayer dollars from going to companies that have recent wage theft convictions or civil penalties reported in the government's contracting database. No hard-working American should ever have to worry that their employer will refuse to pay his or her work, overtime, or take money out of their paycheck, especially if they work for a Federal contractor. As a small-business owner who has had previous contracts, it is not a right, but an earned responsibility and privilege to have these contracts, and any employer that would do wage theft--which is considered to pay less than the minimum wage, to be shorting someone their hours, being forced to work off the clock, not being paid overtime, or not being paid at all--should not be able to get these Federal contracts. A recent National Employment Law Project survey found that 21 percent of Federal contract workers were not paid overtime, and 11 percent have been forced to work off the clock. Eighteen Federal contractors were recipients of one of the largest 100 penalties issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Department of Labor between 2007 and 2012, and almost half of the total initial penalty dollars assessed for OSHA violations were against companies holding Federal contracts in 2012.…
