Temporary landscaping workers will receive nearly $200,000 in back wages following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into alleged violations of the H-2B worker visa program.
An administrative law judge ruled that New Jersey-based Turf Masters must pay 47 workers $181,670.19 in addition to more than $38,000 in civil penalties, citing H-2B violations including failure to pay a prevailing wage, reimburse employees for inbound and outbound travel or retain documentation of involved workers for three years following their H-2B certification.
According to investigators, Turf Masters instructed employees to falsely state they never worked overtime hours. During the period in question, the prevailing wage was $15.52 per hour and $23.28 for overtime.
Turf Masters is now subject to several enhanced compliance measures over the next four years such as institution of an electronic timekeeping system, hiring of a bilingual monitor to conduct trainings and audits. Confidential interviews of all company H-2B workers and installation of GPS devices on each vehicle used to transport workers are also included in those terms.
“Employees have a right to be paid their wages, to seek those wages and cooperate with investigators,” said Charlene Rachor, district director for the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in Lawrenceville, N.J. “The Wage and Hour Division will not tolerate interference with its investigations. This investigation underscores the department’s commitment to...
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