Florida company sent H-2A workers elsewhere, abused them, underpaid them by $165,000
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Florida companies and H-2A visa worker mistreatment
Abuse of H-2A workers isn’t limited to Florida companies, but the U.S. Department of Labor hasn’t had much trouble finding the problem here.
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The owners of an Avon Park harvesting business brought in H-2A visa workers purportedly for work in Florida, shipped them to Missouri instead, didn’t pay them or feed them properly and housed them in what was once a county jail, the U.S. Department of Labor announced.
For this diversity of H-2A worker abuse, Marin J. Corp. paid a penalty of $75,000 and paid 85 workers $165,805 in owed wages after reaching a settlement agreement with Labor.
“Investigators found Marin J. Corp provided these workers with living quarters that were woefully inadequate and violated basic human decency, and violated specific guidelines of the H-2A program, including charging workers to obtain employment,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri in Chicago.
The indictment in this case, filed in St. Louis federal court in June 2021, concerns what the company owned by Jorge Marin-Perez and run day-to-day by Jorge Jovan Marin Gomez did during the 2018 harvesting season.
What is the H-2A temporary worker program?
The H-2A guest worker visa program allows companies to use non-immigrant foreign workers for seasonal work if the company anticipates a shortage of U.S. workers. But, the employers must follow a set of requirements, including:
▪ Trying to fill the jobs with United States-based workers first
▪ Paying special rates for H-2A workers
▪ Providing housing and transportation to the job site
▪ Providing meals if the housing doesn’t have kitchens or kitchenettes
▪ Providing H-2A workers work that’s at least 75% of the work specified in the job contract.
What Marin J. did to its H-2A workers
According to the indictment, Marin J. brought in H-2A workers under the guise of harvesting citrus and blueberries in Avon Park Jan. 16-June 1, 2018. From then, the abuse began.
▪ Marin J. immediately shipped the workers to Kennett, Missouri. Marin J. was responsible for finding workers to harvesting watermelons and cotton at the Tyler Harris Farm.
▪ They didn’t pay the proposed pay rate and didn’t pay overtime.
▪ Made workers pay kickbacks to get H-2A work visas.
▪ Housed them in, Labor said, “what was once a county jail” under “unsanitary living conditions.” By comparison, one company using H-2A workers in South Miami-Dade puts its workers up at a Knights Inn motel.
Who do you call about possible Wage and Hour violations?
The Wage and Hour complaint section of Labor’s website contains information on how to file a complaint if you believe your employer has violated FLSA. Miami’s Wage and Hour Division office can be reached at 305-598-6607. The national helpline is 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). No matter a worker’s immigration or citizenship status, he or she can speak with the department, which says it can handle calls in more than 200 languages.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 10:22 AM.
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