INDEPENDENCE, VA – Following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, and an administrative law judge’s order, 20 temporary agricultural workers who traveled from Mexico to help provide pumpkins, Christmas trees and produce for Mid-Atlantic consumers will be paid $19,988 in back wages by an Independence farm. The farm will also pay $36,000 in civil money penalties.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigation determined that Reyes Nature Greens LLC hired the workers under the H-2A temporary agricultural workers visa program, which allows employers to hire temporary, nonimmigrant workers for seasonal agricultural work.
Specifically, the division found Reyes Nature Greens failed to comply with H-2A requirements to:
- Pay the offered and required wage rate. The employer paid the temporary workers $11.42 an hour instead of $11.46 per hour, the required adverse effect wage rate at the time. The employer also missed payrolls and made no payments during certain workweeks.
- Provide a copy of the work contract, pay statements with all required information, and display required H-2A posters.
- Provide or secure housing for workers and transportation between the workers’ living quarters and the employer’s worksite without cost to the worker and in compliance with all applicable laws, safety and health standards.
- Guarantee workers employment hours of at least 75 percent of the workdays in the contract period.
The department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges issued a...
It looks like this page was accessed through a third-party service designed to bypass site restrictions. To protect our content and the people who create it, access from these tools isn't allowed.