WASHINGTON, DC – Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Georgetown University (Georgetown) will pay up to $550,000 to resolve allegations that it required staff working in research settings to work unpaid overtime, in violation of District law. Under the agreement, Georgetown will establish a fund through which workers can claim the wages they are legally owed and, going forward, will pay the appropriate overtime to all non-exempt employees.

“Workers in academic research settings are often pressured by supervisors to work off-the-clock overtime, a practice that is illegal and unfair,” said AG Schwalb. “The Office of Attorney General will continue to vigorously enforce our wage-and-hour laws across all industries in order to protect all workers, and I encourage anyone who feels they are not being paid, on time and in full, what they have earned to file a complaint through our workers’ rights tipline.”

In March 2022, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) received a complaint about Georgetown’s overtime practices through its workers’ rights tipline (workers@dc.gov). Following a thorough investigation, OAG alleged 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. As part of the investigation, OAG sent a survey to 693 current and former employees asking whether they’d been required to work unpaid overtime. Out of 102 responses, 46% reported having to work uncompensated overtime, with a median amount of unpaid overtime reported per employee of $2,160.00.

Georgetown cooperated with OAG’s investigation and has agreed to take corrective action.

To resolve OAG’s allegations, Georgetown will:

• 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 full agreement is available here.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Charlie Sinks and Section Chief Graham Lake.

OAG’s Efforts to Protect Workers     
In 2021, OAG established the Workers’ Rights & Antifraud Section, which is dedicated to fighting wage theft and protecting District workers. Since gaining wage theft enforcement authority in 2017, OAG has secured over $18 million for workers and the District by bringing investigations and lawsuits against employers who violate District law. OAG’s wage theft enforcement efforts have focused on industries with high populations of vulnerable workers, such as construction, restaurants and hospitality, healthcare, and the gig economy. OAG also released a report about how worker misclassification hurts workers, undercuts law-abiding businesses, and cheats taxpayers. This past September, OAG released a Labor Day report highlighting efforts to protect DC workers. 

Click here to view a more comprehensive list of OAG’s legal victories standing up for workers’ rights. 

How to Report Wage and Hour Violations 
Workers who believe that their rights have been violated, or that they have experienced wage theft or other wage and hour violations, can contact OAG by calling (202) 442-9828 or emailing workers@dc.gov or trabajadores@dc.gov.