Companies that receive federal contracts and break labor laws could face greater scrutiny from the U.S. government, if Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) gets his way.



Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama’s administration to make information on government contractors’ labor law compliance more transparent, require consultations between contracting officers and the U.S. Labor Department about infractions and boost contractors’ compliance with federal laws.



From 2007 to 2012, 49 government contractors racked up nearly 1,800 violations, costing them $196.4 million in penalties, according to a report Harkin released with his recommendations. In 2012, these contractors received $81 billion in contracts.



Harkin said in a written statement that the report’s findings are “deeply troubling.” But the senator’s report notes that labor law problems with contractors could be rectified through the annual publication of contractors that have received penalties, the inclusion of information in contracting databases about labor law violations not related to government work and other actions.



“We need an effective system in place to respond when federal contractors violate wage or safety laws, and to make compliance with labor laws a meaningful part of federal contracting decisions,” Harkin said. “Our government owes it to hardworking Americans to lead by example when it comes to following to our labor laws.”



BP PLC, Louis Dreyfus Group’s Imperial Sugar Co. and Management & Training Corp. (MTC), which provides workforce training and runs private pensions, paid the most in fines from 2007 to 2012, accounting for almost half of the $196 million in penalties against the 49 contractors.



Penalties were $59.7 million for BP, $21.5 million for MTC and $8.8 million for Louis Dreyfus. The government in 2012 doled out contracts worth $2 billion to BP, $94.8 million to Louis Dreyfus and $347.8 million to MTC.



BP’s fines primarily stem from Occupational Safety and Health Administration findings of unsafe conditions at oil and gas refineries, but do not include the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in which OSHA lacked jurisdiction. MTC’s penalties are related to underpaying employees working at a Texas detention center; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t tell MTC that it had to pay its workers at the facility more money under federal law, according to the report and a company spokesman. And penalties against Louis Dreyfus mostly came from a 2008 explosion at an Imperial Sugar refinery in Georgia.



Representatives of BP and Louis Dreyfus didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.



Steve Posner, an Office of Management and Budget spokesman, said in a written statement that the Obama administration is “committed to ensuring that our government is doing business only with contractors who place a premium on integrity and good business ethics.”



“We have taken aggressive steps to hold contractors accountable, including through the increased use of suspension and debarment actions against contractors who have violated Federal laws, including wage and safety laws,” he said.