Following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, an administrative law judge ordered a commercial landscaping company based in Bayville to pay 47 temporary landscaping workers $181,670.19 in back wages. The employer will also pay $38,329.81 in civil money penalties.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigation determined that this company employed grasscutters for more than 50 hours per week, paid them sub-prevailing wage rates for all hours worked, and then attempted to hide these practices from the division. The company hired the workers from Mexico to work as grasscutters under the H-2B temporary non-agricultural workers visa program, which allows employers to temporarily hire foreign workers to perform nonagricultural labor or services in the United States.

Specifically, the division found this Company violated the H-2B program requirements to:

  • Pay the required prevailing wage rate, at the time, of $15.52 per hour and $23.28 for overtime hours worked. The employer instead paid the temporary workers approximately $11 an hour;
  • Reimburse workers for inbound and outbound travel expenses; and
  • Comply with retaining records and documents for three years from the date the H-2B application is certified, or from the date of adjudication if the application is denied, or from the day the department receives the letter of withdrawal if the employer withdraws the application.

“Employees have a right to be paid their wages, to seek those wages and cooperate with investigators. The Wage and Hour Division will not tolerate interference with its investigations,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Charlene Rachor in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. “This investigation underscores the department’s commitment to using all enforcement tools to protect the rights of people who work in the U.S. Other employers should use the outcome of this investigation as an opportunity to review their own practices to make sure they comply with the law and avoid violations like those found in this case.”

“Employers who flout the rules of the H-2B program harm workers and gain unfair economic advantages. The U.S. Department of Labor will actively litigate such cases to achieve resolutions that ensure that applicants and workers are properly paid and prevent future violations,” said regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey Rogoff in New York.

The division’s Southern New Jersey District Office conducted the investigation. Attorney Jacob Heyman-Kantor and Senior Trial Attorney Rolando Valdez with the department’s regional Office of the Solicitor in New York litigated the case.

Source: DOL