August 27, 2009

Allegations of Improper Hanford Workers’ Compensation Payments (INS-L-09-07, S09IS027)

This is to advise you of the results of an Office of Inspector General inspection concerning workers’ compensation related allegations at the Hanford site. Specifically, it was alleged that the Hanford site’s tank farm contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), was paying employees on workers’ compensation over 100 percent of their net salaries and beyond the 180 day limit allowed under the site’s labor agreement. It was also alleged that the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of River Protection (ORP), WRPS, and the alternative dispute resolution mediator, the Hanford Concerns Council (HCC), were negotiating employee settlements outside the statutorily required exclusive remedy of workers’ compensation.

Topic: Management and Administration