Registered nurses at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., are calling on the D.C. Office of the Attorney General to investigate alleged systemic wage and hour violations by hospital management.
On Jan. 12, the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United — which represents more than 2,200 nurses at the hospital — filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office. According to the union, the complaint outlines concerns that emergency department time cards were falsified, some operating room nurses were not paid on the correct date, and missed paychecks went unresolved for weeks. The filing also alleges that management fostered a culture in which nurses were pressured to perform work “off the clock.”
The union has asked the attorney general to open an investigation.
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office told Becker’s, “As a general rule, we do not confirm, deny, or comment on investigative activity. However, our Workers’ Rights and Antifraud Section takes all complaints of wage theft seriously, and we encourage any D.C. workers who believe that their rights have been violated to contact our team.”
MedStar Washington Hospital Center — a 912-bed academic and research facility — told Becker’s it is reviewing concerns raised by staff.
“We are committed to paying all our associates fairly, accurately, and on time, and we have processes in place to meet this commitment on a daily basis,” the hospital said in a statement. “We encourage associates to raise any concerns about particular paychecks.
“Recently, we became aware of some concerns regarding pay for certain nurses. We immediately began looking into those concerns, and where we have confirmed a mistake, we have issued corrected paychecks to impacted nurses. We are continuing our review and will expedite correction of any errors we identify.”
A protest organized by the union is scheduled to take place outside the hospital Jan. 15.
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