Essex County and a company it retained to manage a Newark-based immigration detention facility will be forced to pay $4.8 million to 122 employees in benefits and back wages. This expensive settlement could spell the end of the ICE detention program in the county.
The county, as well as the Community Education Center, was paying employees of the facility lower wages than required by law, according to a press release from the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. The payout of $4.8 million is a settlement that has been reached between the Department of Labor, the CEC, and the county after the two employers were sued by the federal agency to recoup the wage discrepancy.
The Department of Labor says that the company had put 122 detention officers, who were responsible for the supervision of immigrant detainees, into the category of ‘operations counselors’. This allowed the company to pay employees almost $20 less per hour than they should have received under the correct job title. They also failed to pay the employees proper overtime or fringe benefits, according to the Department.
Although sources in the county claim that the increased wages and payout means the end of the program in the area, the Department of Labor insists that the deal was a victory for the affected employees and that the Wage and Hour Division will continue to be vigilant in enforcing wage laws.