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US Department of Labor fines father, daughter farm contractors $166K for violating H-2A program rules in North Carolina; duo debarred for 3 years [ http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20250114 ] 01/14/2025 07:00 AM EST
Lee esto en Español. RALEIGH, NC – The U.S. Department of Labor has debarred a Snow Hill-based father and daughter for three years from a federal program for widespread violations of federal regulations.The department’s Wage and Hour Division previously found that Reymundo Perez Guzman committed multiple violations while operating as an unregistered farm labor contractor, resulting in $9,336 in civil money penalties. Through a federal investigation, the division found Guzman was conducting business under his daughter’s name, Yadira Perez Gamas.Investigators determined that Yadira Perez Gamas submitted an application to hire the temporary workers under the H-2A program while her father controlled the entire planting and harvesting operation, including the recruitment of workers to harvest cucumbers, sweet potatoes and tobacco and transported them to and from farms in Stokes, La Grange and Tarboro. Reymundo Perez Guzman also owned and operated the labor camps that housed the employees. In addition, the division found Perez Guzman illegally sent H-2A employees to work outside the scope of the approved contract to Web Roberts Farm in Statonsburg, and to a local metal recycling center and landscaping business.“The H-2A temporary agricultural program provides U.S. farmers with the workers needed to harvest crops and help businesses succeed. When employers like Reymundo Perez Guzman and Yadira Perez Gamas violate laws for personal gain, they will be held accountable for their actions,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Labor contractors in the H-2A program recruit these workers and must comply with regulations or risk fines and possible debarment from participation in the program.”Specifically, investigators found the duo violated H-2A regulations by failing to do the following: Fully reimburse workers for transportation expenses.Pay the full cost of H-2A visa and border fees, instead illegally shifting those costs to workers.Pay the required adverse effect wage rate for North Carolina, often paying employees nearly $4 per hour less than the required rate under H-2A.Record workers’ actual payment rate, the start and end of employees’ workdays and total amount of earnings paid to include deductions. Provide records for the weeks employees worked at the landscaping and metal recycling facility. Provide pay stubs to H-2A employees. The division assessed Reymundo Perez Guzman with $85,350 in civil money penalties and Yadira Perez Gamas with $81,084 in penalties for numerous violations of the H-2A program and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. The division also determined that when the employees were not working within the scope of the contract, Guzman and Gamas impermissibly claimed an overtime exemption for work done in landscaping and while at the recycling center, resulting in overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. As a result of the violations, the division recovered $73,094 in back wages for 30 workers.“This case revealed a disturbing disregard for the law and the safety of the workers involved. These employers assumed they could take workers who agreed to farm work and then direct them to work in other industries, including a recycling center where heavy machinery and hazardous chemicals are usually present. Making matters worse, they withheld overtime pay these workers earned,” said Blaylock. “Reymundo Perez Guzman and Yadira Perez Gamas preyed on these workers, showed little regard for their safety or well-being, and sidestepped federal laws along the way.”From fiscal year 2022 to 2024, the division completed 74 agricultural industry investigations in North Carolina, identifying violations in 84 percent of those investigations. The investigations led to the division assessing employers $1.3 million in civil penalties and recovering over $1 million in back wages and damages for nearly 1,300 workers in the state of North Carolina.In fiscal year 2024, the division held 28 outreach events in North Carolina and provided training and education to over 3,800 agricultural employers, associations, farm labor contractors and stakeholders in the state. The Wage and Hour Division offers multiple compliance assistance resources, including an agriculture compliance assistance toolkit, to provide employers the information they need to comply with the law. The division enforces the law without regard to an employee’s immigration status and can communicate with callers in more than 200 languages at its toll-free helpline, 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The Wage and Hour Division makes every effort to locate and notify all employees due back wages. If they are unable to find an employee, those wages are held while they continue efforts to locate the worker. If anyone believes they may be owed back wages collected by the division, they can search the division’s online database of workers who have been previously unlocated and may have money waiting to be claimed.Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division. Download the agency’s Timesheet App for Android and iOS devices, free and available in English and Spanish, to ensure hours and pay are accurate. body { font-size: 1em; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; color: #333333; }
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