|
Click to listen to this article
|
U.S. Department of Labor investigators determined an employer violated its obligations to H-2A guest workers and the law, shortchanged wages and exposed workers to substandard living conditions. The investigation also found that the employer used threats and intimidation to exploit the workers.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Jorgensen Management Inc., a potato farm in Bancroft, Idaho, intentionally violated the following provisions of the H-2A guest worker program:
- Failure to pay the required rates to 69 domestic workers hired alongside H-2A visa workers.
- Failure to provide H-2A workers with at least three-quarters of the work hours guaranteed on their contracts.
- Failure to reimburse workers for inbound transportation costs.
In addition to these violations, investigators determined that the employer threatened to terminate the work contract and send workers back to Mexico if they refused to accept wages at a lower rate than legally required under the H-2A program.
The division also found Jorgensen violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act by failing to meet mandatory housing safety and health standards, failing to disclose all conditions of employment, failing to provide wage statements to workers and failing to pay wages when due.
The investigation led the department to recover $159,256 in unpaid wages and assess $25,430 in civil money penalties.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor
