Office of Inspector General
City of Chicago
:1;tf8:;
Report of the Office of Inspector General: *************************
i ¦¦ •¦
Audit of Contractor Compliance with the Chicago Base Wage Ordinance
o
m =itrn
n".
CO
^fe-'^ff 5
866-IG-TIPUNE (866-448-4754) www.chicagoinspectorgeneral.org
Joseph M. Ferguson Inspector General
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
City of Chicago
740 N. Sedgwick Slivcl, Suiic 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 Telephone: (773) 478-7799 Fax: (773) 478-3949
November 30, 2017
To the Mayor, Members of the City Council, City Clerk, City Treasurer, and residents of the City of Chicago:
The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed an audit to determine if security guard and janitorial service contractors and subcontractors complied with the Chicago Base Wage Ordinance. Similar to living wage laws adopted by cities nationwide, the purpose of the Ordinance is to ensure that City contractors and related subcontractors pay their employees in excess of poverty-level wages, both as a matter of principle and as a means of stimulating the local economy.
OIG found that 150 employees had been underpaid $22,664 during the weeks examined, and we estimate the total underpayment was $291,816 over the course of 3 years. We concluded that the City did not implement sufficient controls to provide reasonable assurance that contractors and subcontractors comply with the Chicago Base Wage Ordinance.
To address the underpayments found in this audit, OIG recommends that the Department of Procurement Services (DPS) exercise its existing audit authority, and require the contractors and subcontractors reviewed to identify the total underpayment related to base, overtime, and training wages, and to pay the covered employees any back pay owed. To prevent and detect future wage violations, OIG recommends that DPS take further steps to promote compliance among contractors ...
Click here for full text