EEOC Settles 10-Year Overtime Dispute With Employees For $1.5 Million

This story has been updated with a comment from the EEOC.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has settled a 10-year dispute for more than $1.5 million with employees over unpaid overtime, according to the union representing the workers.

The agency agreed to pay $1.53 million and other relief to employees involved in the case, which has lingered in the arbitration claims process since the union filed a grievance in 2006. The amount of compensation per employee hasn’t been decided yet, said Gabrielle Martin, president of the National Council of EEOC Locals No. 216, part of the American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing the 268 current and former workers who filed claims.

The agency also will include a line item for overtime in future budgets as part of the settlement, Martin said.

“Our union is pleased that our dedicated members who worked extra unpaid hours will finally see some compensation,” Martin said. “It has been very frustrating to employees that this case has gone on for a decade during which employees retired or unfortunately passed away.” 

A federal arbitrator in 2008 concluded that the EEOC improperly changed the classification of certain jobs to exempt them from overtime, and in 2009 found that the agency had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. The EEOC offered compensatory time off to employees who had worked overtime, but did not give them the option of extra pay instead.

The problems arose at a time when the EEOC experienced a spike in workload and reduction in staff – and tried to do more with less, shortchanging employees in the process. When the arbitrator issued the 2009 decision, then acting EEOC Chairman Stuart Ishimaru said the agency would “examine its overtime practices and make any necessary changes. We want to do overtime right.”

As a result of the arbitrator’s previous decision, 700 employees were reclassified so that they now are covered by the FLSA and can file for overtime.

Martin said the case had “gathered dust” for the last decade “on the desks of several past agency heads.” She thanked current EEOC Chair Jenny Yang for her efforts to “bring closure to this matter.”

Yang said she was "pleased" that EEOC management and the union reached a resolution on the matter. "EEOC’s employees are our greatest asset," said Yang in a statement. "We remain committed to ensuring that all EEOC employees are paid for overtime worked."