Two Turlock agriculture businesses have been fined by the U.S. Department of Labor for violations of the temporary worker program, including failing to pay them the full amount and provide safe housing.
A recent investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found numerous violations of the H-2A agricultural worker program by Roberto Perez Farms and Perez Bros Farms Inc. in Turlock.
Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the employers: Illegally rejected domestic workers; failed to pay the required H-2A rate to workers hired alongside H-2A visa workers; did not provide H-2A workers with at least three-quarters of the work hours guaranteed on their contracts, and pay them the wages the program requires; failed to reimburse H-2A workers for inbound and outbound transportation, visa and border crossing fees, as the law requires; made illegal deductions from pay; and failed to maintain complete records, as required.
The division also determined that the employers transported workers in unsafe vehicles with bald tires and inoperable lights, and housed workers in unsafe and overcrowded conditions. Investigators also found Roberto Perez Farms and Perez Bros Farms Inc. failed to disclose all conditions of employment, provide wage statements to workers and pay wages when due, all violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
The investigation recovered $82,616 in back wages for 92 workers and led the department to assess...
The DMK president blamed the AIADMK leader for trying to scuttle Ungaludan Stalin initiative when it was introduced, by filing a petition in the court against it DMK president and Chief Minister M....