During the tomato harvest last year, 100% of farm operations investigated by the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division were found in violation of the law. Consequently, a follow-up investigation is underway this year.
The violations that were discovered in the district included failures to pay the minimum wage for all hours worked, disclosing written employment conditions and wage statements to workers, ensuring that workers had safe housing, obtaining proper vehicle insurance and ensuring that drivers possessed valid licenses.
As for concerns over hiring illegal immigrants for labor, [District Director Rick] Blaylock said his department is not involved in monitoring immigration status of workers. “Regardless of the reason an individual is in this country, they are still required to be paid according to the laws governing this country,” he said. “We are purely focused on the wage and safety issues. If a worker thought we were concerned about (immigration status), we would not get the cooperation out of them that we do.”
Bill Holbrook, who owns a small farm that employs five or fewer seasonal workers, explained the fines were a cost of doing business. He grants that Labor Department workers are doing a good job of educating farmers, but the law is so extensive, everybody is going to be out of compliance with a few things. According to the report in the Mountaineer, but as always not in so many words, Holbrook loves farming too much to go Galt.
