Three customs warehouses near the San Diego-Tijuana border were ordered to pay more than $1.9 million in back wages and fines after attorneys with the U.S. Department of Labor investigated their employment practices.
The companies paid employees who crossed from Mexico to work in their Otay Mesa warehouses using Tijuana-based affiliates who paid in pesos and at rates as low as the equivalent of $2.50 in dollars per hour, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Department of Labor. That’s well below the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
The department also noted the employees were not paid for overtime work.
“Through our enforcement efforts, these San Diego employers have come to realize that they cannot avoid federal labor protections simply because their employees return home across the border at the end of the workday,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “We encourage others in this industry to take heed and avoid the costly consequences of worker exploitation by paying their employees as legally required.”
The judge-ordered payments are the result of consent judgments filed in federal court in San Diego.
A.G.A. Investments II Inc., operating as Columbia Export Group, and owner Arturo Ruffo will be required to pay $267,408 in minimum wages and $648,269 in overtime to 60 employees as well as $34,958 in penalties.
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