Opinion ID: 457737
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Wage and Benefit Review

Text: 51 Regulations for CETA Titles I and VI that were in effect from the inception of the County's CETA programs in mid-1977 to April 1, 1979, provided that wages and benefits for work-experience participants were to be commensurate with such factors as the type of work performed, the skill proficiency of the participant, the geographic region of the program, and the prevailing wages and benefits for similarly employed employees. See 29 C.F.R. Secs. 95.33(d)(4)(viii), 96.34, 98.24(b), 99.37(e) (1978). 12 However, the base wage provided by the County for work-experience participants in WAP was set at the federal minimum wage. 52 In his Initial and Final Determinations, the Grant Officer concluded that Petitioner had violated CETA regulations by paying only minimum wage and by not providing the proper benefits. The initial corrective action proposed was an order to the County to classify all work-experience positions in WAP by the factors enumerated in the applicable regulations, to determine the proper wages and benefits under the regulations, and to submit the results to the DOL's regional office for review. The Final Determination modified this remedy to require that the County first notify all former CETA participants, by newspaper notices and mailings, to submit claims if they believed they were underpaid. A representative of the employees could also submit specific documentation on individual participants. The claims would next be reviewed by an outside agency, which would then notify each participant of the results of the review and of the right to appeal to the Office of Administrative Law Judges. Costs for the record review, back wages, and benefits could be paid from CETA funds. 53 The County did not appeal this portion of the Final Determination and has thereby conceded liability; the complainants, however, in the proceedings before the ALJ, did contest the corrective action ordered by the Grant Officer on the ground that the burden of determining the proper wages and benefits should be borne by the County, not by the individual CETA participants. 54 The ALJ found that the record lacked the type of detailed information needed to allow him to establish the proper wages and benefits for each of the approximately 5,400 individuals enrolled in the County's CETA programs between July 1, 1977, and April 1, 1979. He also concluded that the corrective action ordered in the Grant Officer's Initial Determination was more appropriate than that of the Final Determination. He found that a requirement of computation of the appropriate earnings prior to notification to former employees was necessary because this placed the burden of evaluating jobs and calculating wages on the prime sponsor, which could have avoided the problem by following the regulations in the first place, and which has better access to the necessary information than former participants. Thus, the ALJ ordered that the County classify all CETA work-experience positions according to the factors enumerated in the regulations, determine the proper wages and benefits, and submit the results to the regional DOL office for review within 60 days of the date of his decision. The DOL office would then have 30 days to review these submissions and the County would have 30 days thereafter to compensate all underpaid former CETA participants that could be located. If, due to changed circumstances, federal funds were not available for the back wages, the benefits, and the expenses associated with the record review, the County was required to defray these costs from its own funds. The Final Determination was affirmed in all other respects. 55 In its petition for review, the County contests the corrective action ordered and argues that the Secretary's requirement of a comprehensive wage review was an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with the applicable law. We concur in the Secretary's observation that the County, with superior access to the records and as the party at fault, should bear the costs of the record review. Furthermore, we recognize that, given the characteristics of the class of former CETA employees, it is unreasonable to assume that they will be able to recognize independently whether they are entitled to additional compensation. 56 Nonetheless, it is not obvious that the appropriate solution is to require Petitioner to complete the record review for all former participants when a substantial number of them will never be located. The former employees bear the burden of coming forward after they have received notice whether the record review is performed before or after the notification. However, undertaking the review before notification would require Petitioner to perform many costly calculations that will never be used, when the goal of the record review is to provide the proper compensation to the former CETA participants at a reasonable cost to all parties involved. Thus, to the extent that the Secretary's order requires Petitioner to incur substantial expense in undertaking the wage review 13 prior to notification when it is almost certain that, despite reasonable efforts at notification, a considerable number of former CETA participants will never be located, we agree that the remedy constitutes an abuse of discretion. We conclude that notice should first be sent to the participants and that the record review should then be performed for those individuals who come forward. To that extent, we reinstate the corrective action set forth in the Grant Officer's Final Determination. 57 We note, however, that the Final Determination required that the County notify all CETA participants to submit claims if they believed they were underpaid. This places an inappropriate burden on the participants, as it calls for a threshold determination on their part that they are in fact entitled to additional compensation. Thus, the initial notice must simply instruct those individuals who participated in CETA programs during the relevant period to come forward; the records of the individuals who are located will then be analyzed by Petitioner. The Secretary should determine the proper form of notice to be sent to the former CETA employees and set the appropriate procedure and schedules for the subsequent record review and reimbursement. 58 We have considered all of the remaining arguments raised by Petitioner in its challenge to the record review and have found them to be without merit. In conclusion, this portion of the Secretary's order is remanded for action consistent with this opinion.