Hartford HealthCare reneged on wage promises, stole from home health aides instead
Heard this story on my local NPR station this morning. Hartford HealthCare ($5 billion in revenue last year) made a big announcement in 2019 that all employees would start making at least $15 per hour by March of that year. Readers of this sub will not be surprised to learn that they did not do this, and used weaselly explanations to pretend they did.
The more surprising part of the story is that many of the lowest-paid workers– home health aides– were having a meal charge deducted from their paychecks for food they were never given or even offered. The wage theft went on for years, keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars out of the pockets of workers who are largely immigrants and people of color. Even after the theft was found to be illegal, because of statutes of limitations, they only had to pay back a portion of the stolen wages.
Two reminders for all of us:
- Ignore the splashy headlines. Judge companies based on what they do, not what they say they will do.
- Vulnerable workers get exploited first. Those of us with the ability to amplify their voices should do so whenever we can.