Golden Living to give union members $1.7M in back pay

A Fort Smith, AR-based senior care provider has agreed to grant a union’s members some $1.7 million in back pay, apparently closing a year-long legal battle.

The case dates back to 2016 and 2017, when Golden LivingCenters sold its collection of facilities in Pennsylvania while still maintaining ownership of the real estate. But Golden failed to close the sale of some of those facilities by a certain date, according to SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, which represents those employees.

Because of that, the union contended that, under its contracts, Golden must pay back sick and vacation pay to its members, since they technically remained its employees. An arbitrator agreed with SEIU back in December, but the provider appealed, and finally the two settled on an amount of $1.7 million — which is about 89% of what was allegedly owed — which Golden will pay in three increments, starting on June 1, according to SEIU.

“We are pleased that these hardworking caregivers will finally be compensated by Golden Living Centers for the money they earned,” Matthew Yarnell, president of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, said in a statement issued Friday. “While we wished GLC would have paid workers 100 percent of what they are owed, we believe this is the best outcome to ensure workers get paid now instead of having to wait potentially for years as the court process dragged on.”

All told, that payment will be disbursed to about 2,000 former nursing home employees, including licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, and service and technical workers. They formerly worked at 17 different Golden Living facilities in Pennsylvania, according to SEIU.

In a statement to McKnight’s Friday, spokeswoman Kelli Luneborg said the company is happy to move past the matter.

“Golden LivingCenters and the SEIU have had a longstanding relationship and history of working cooperatively at the company’s Pennsylvania facilities,” she said. “Throughout the process, both parties remained committed to a resolution and we are pleased to have this resolved.”