Company pays $40,000 after violating housing and food rules for H-2A visa workers
A Lake Placid company that provides farm labor didn’t provide food, proper shelter or proper pay of the workers it imported through the H-2A visa program, the Department of Labor announced.
Red Harvesting paid $39,527 in back pay to 119 workers — $332.16 per employee — and $1,214 in civil penalties to Labor.
The H-2A program allows companies to bring in temporary, nonimmigrant workers to do temporary and seasonal farm work. But Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigators found the company run by Carlos Barajas Torres and Ramiro Barajas Torres fell short in pay and:
▪ Food — “Red Harvesting failed to provide meals or kitchen facilities to employees, instead choosing to arrange for a caterer that the workers paid directly,” Labor said.
▪ Shelter — Putting up an employee on a hotel room floor with a mattress “despite a bed frame being available.”
▪ Transportation — The backup lights on one of the transport vehicles didn’t work.
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 9:56 AM.
