Fairness in employment

When it comes to fair labor practices, it's better late than never.

For Penn, a human-relations wrong has been corrected, and mistreated security guards can return to their campus posts.

AlliedBarton Security, the subcontractor that manages uniformed guards on campus, has reinstated employees it had previously sent on punishment assignments. That treatment in response to the guards call for better wages and benefits was irresponsible, and Penn was right to complain.

No responsible employees working on this campus should be in fear of similar treatment, and everyone on the payroll -- be they direct hires or subcontracted labor -- deserves fair treatment in employment.

By taking action, the University has rightly indicated that substandard treatment is not acceptable. And while it has enjoyed a good working relationship with Allied in the past, this incident has brought to light questionable practices by one of Penn's largest subcontractors.

It should be in the University's and this community's best interest to see that employees are appropriately paid and treated with respect.

President Amy Gutmann has said that her administration will be looking into the practices of Allied to ensure these employees are being paid fair market rates.

That's a good start.

Building on that, the University should establish a set of minimum employment guidelines for each segment of its hourly workforce -- potentially including food service workers, maintenance and other personnel -- based on prevailing market conditions for those positions.

Penn must make it clear to everyone it hires -- or in the case of outsourced labor, the subcontractors it chooses -- that reasonable standards of fairness and treatment will be expected.

To put this into practice, the administration should conduct periodic performance audits and solicit feedback from frontline staff.

Penn has the opportunity now, as Philadelphia's largest private employer, to set an example of what good labor relations can be.

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