Union leaders say payroll problems persist for home care workers

After home care workers complained for years about late paychecks, the state in March hired a new vendor to manage payroll for a network of personal care aides who serve people on Medicaid waivers aging at home.

But so far, leaders of SEIU 1199 New England, which represents about 12,000 care aides, say troubles with payroll have persisted since the new agency, GT Independence, took over last spring .

Many home care workers have received late paychecks, sometimes by a few days or weeks. Others aren’t being compensated properly for paid time off that was granted under a recent contract. And some haven’t received pay raises that were supposed to take effect on July 1, union officials said.

Under the contract approved in March, employees earning the minimum rate went to $20.50 per hour, and those over the minimum rate received a 2.5% pay increase. Some staff who were supposed to get a 2.5% raise have not seen the increase in their paychecks, said Diedre Murch, home care director with SEIU 1199 New England.

“We understand that in a transition that involves 12,000 workers and thousands of consumers, there are going to be non-payment issues. They’re going to happen,” she said. “So, for us, the measure of success is, how quickly can they get these issues resolved with the minimal amount of pain for workers and consumers who are trying to get back to their everyday life of living independently.”

“We’ve had a pretty high number of grievances around paid time off,” Murch said. “There were also just raises that went into effect, and we’ve seen some widespread problems with the raises.”

Notices of nonpayment filed by home care workers with 1199 have risen in recent months since GT Independence took over managing payroll. The union received 39 notices in February, 87 in March, 162 in April, 103 in May, 175 in June, and 113 in July, according to data recorded by 1199. Written grievances, in which union officials highlighted concerns in depth and asked the state for a meeting, also increased. SEIU 1199 reported five grievances in February, seven in March, nine in April, 18 in May, 15 in June and 29 in July.

Officials with GT Independence could not be reached for comment.

Christine Stuart, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services, said payroll problems have been reduced under the new agency.

“The transition from [previous manager] Allied to GT Independence happened between March 24 and April. Getting used to a new payroll system for our PCAs took some time, but we can say definitively that the number of late payments have been reduced since transitioning to GT Independence,” she said. “There were two pay rate increases, one in May and another in July, both were implemented with minimal errors. We continue to work with GT Independence and 1199 to make sure any issues that arise are fixed. In fact, GT Independence is able to more frequently offer a payroll correction instead of making a PCA wait for a new payroll period than the previous contractor.”

Pamela Hunt, a personal care aide from Norwich, said she was paid promptly when GT Independence first came on board but has since been paid late twice. Instead of receiving a paycheck on Fridays, she’d get it the following week.

“I was doing some business with the bank, and they were looking for a specific paycheck during a specific week. And I said, ‘Well, I did work, but there was no paycheck,’” Hunt, 64, said. She typically would be paid on Fridays, but “now I’m being kicked over the weekend and then not getting paid on Monday, and bills are due. And I said, ‘this is really causing a hardship.’”

The late payments pose problems for care aides, some of whom live paycheck to paycheck, union officials said.

In a 2022 survey by SEIU 1199 New England, roughly one-third of the personal care aides reported being behind on their rent or mortgage payments during the last year. Forty-two percent said they had paid late fees or were referred to a collection agency for unpaid bills, and more than one in five received a shutoff notice for utilities or had their utilities turned off during the past year.

Thirty-seven percent of the aides said they rely on food stamps, and a third could not afford groceries or did not have enough food to feed their families over the last year. Seventy-two percent reported using some form of state assistance.

“We hear from workers, ‘I have to pay my rent or I’m going to get evicted,’ and ‘I can’t pay my rent without my paycheck.’ We know of PCAs who are living in their cars. We know of PCAs who are bouncing between the couches of family and friends trying to stay afloat while working full time,” Murch said. “We also hear of people who say, ‘I’m going to quit. I can’t stay in a job where I’m not getting paid.’ Sometimes we hear, ‘I don’t have gas to get to my consumer’s house. I can’t care for them because I didn’t get my paycheck.’

“There’s a whole cascade of impacts, both to the worker and to the consumer needing care, when people who work paycheck to paycheck — or who work a paycheck or two behind — don’t get paid on time.”

Union leaders said they are hoping to have direct communication with GT Independence to resolve issues. They currently funnel complaints through the state Department of Social Services.

They also have asked GT Independence to release internal data on the number of incoming calls received, hold times, late payment notifications and other information.

“Are the hold times reducing since the transition to acceptable levels? How many payments are being processed on time versus a few days later? Those kinds of things can help us track and hopefully celebrate some progress, because I think the data will show that things can and will get better,” Murch said. “But without the data, we can’t make that case to our members.”

Prior to GT Independence, personal care aides for years complained of difficulties with pay under the previous payroll manager, Allied Community Resources. In 2022, the union received 1,653 grievances against Allied from personal care aides over payment problems.

The issues were highlighted in a Connecticut Mirror series last year on gaps in the state’s elder care services . As Connecticut tries to recruit and retain more home care workers for a ballooning older adult population, union officials said Allied’s payment troubles were undercutting those efforts. Missed payments can mean workers are behind on paying bills and in some cases can lead to eviction or threat of eviction. In other cases, late payments have caused some employees to leave the industry.

State officials announced last November that they had selected GT Independence to replace Allied.