A Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee investigation has found widespread labor law violations among government contractors, including two companies tasked with building the federal health insurance exchange.
HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) released the report, which found Serco Group and CGI — two of the IT companies tasked with building HealthCare.gov — were assessed by the Department of Labor for $1.8 million and $1.7 million, respectively, in wage and safety penalties from 2007 to 2012. CGI was cited for 13 wage and safety violations during that time period, while Serco was cited for 12, according to the report.
The two companies were among 49 federal contractors the report called out as accountable for large-scale labor law violations such as not paying employees wages they rightfully earned and failing to maintain safe workplace conditions. Almost 30 percent of the companies that received the highest penalties for federal labor law violations during the investigation period are also federal contractors, according to the report.
Earlier this year, CGI and Secro officials testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the federal exchange site's glitch-ridden rollout. The two companies and other contractors told lawmakers the site wasn't tested enough before its launch.
Federal officials have said they made "substantial progress" in repairing HealthCare.gov, which can now support 50,000 users at a time, according to an HHS progress report.
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