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HOUSTON - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into a conciliation agreement with Allied Universal, one of the world’s largest security and facility services providers, to resolve alleged systemic race-based hiring discrimination at a Houston facility operated by one of its subsidiaries.
The agreement follows a routine compliance evaluation of G4S Secure Solutions, which the company acquired in 2021, by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs that alleged — from Jan. 1, 2016, through Dec. 31, 2017 — the federal contractor’s hiring practices violated Executive Order 11246 by discriminating against 1,459 Black applicants for security officer positions.
Allied Universal has agreed to pay $411,000 in back wages to 1,459 unsuccessful Black applicants and to revise its recruiting and selection procedures to make sure its personnel practices comply with federal regulations.
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The employer will also extend job opportunities to 28 affected Black applicants in Houston.
Federal law forbids federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.
"Our agreement with Allied Universal will resolve alleged violations found in a routine compliance audit of G4S Secure Solutions and compensate affected job applicants," explained Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Acting Regional Director Jane Suhr for the Southwest and Rocky Mountain Region. "The company will also make certain its future hiring practices fulfill the requirements in federal employment."During OFCCP’s evaluation period, the company had contracts with the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.
After a separate federal investigation into the company’s pay practices, the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Allied Universal automatically deducted time for meal breaks when security officers were often required to work through all or some of them.
The investigation recovered nearly $1.1 million in back wages and damages for 778 employees and led to a nationwide enhanced agreement to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions.