More than 20 farm employers and labor contractors have been banned since January from using a foreign farmworker program due to workplace violations, according to the Department of Labor (DOL).
Violations included failure to respond to audit requests and not recruiting U.S. citizen employees as part of the employers’ obligations, as well as referrals from the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), according the DOL’s debarment list.
From January to August, 22 farm employers and labor contractors were put on the debarment list, reported the Center for Immigration Studies on Tuesday. This was an increase from 2015 to 2017, with 2015 seeing one labor contractor added to the list, six employers and contractors in 2016 and 17 employers and contractors in 2017.
Those on the list cannot use H-2A workers for one or more years. H-2A visas allow agricultural companies to hire foreign workers for a temporary period of time.
The Center for Immigration Studies found H-2A certified workers were financially exploited by their employers in its Aug. 6 analysis, “Unlimited Cheap Farm Labor: Evaluating H-2A Disclosure Data.”
H-2A workers hired as regular farmworkers were paid 1 to 4 percent less than the average. However, those hired as agricultural equipment operators, construction laborers and supervisors were paid 23 to 95 percent less than the average, according to the Center for Immigration Studies’ report.
The DOL requires employers to attempt hiring U.S. employees before using H-2A workers. (RELATED: REPORT: Claims That Immigrants Are Needed To Do The Jobs Americans Won’t Doesn’t Hold Up)
“H-2A workers and domestic workers in corresponding employment must be paid special rates of pay that vary by locality, must be provided housing and transportation from that housing to the job site if their employment requires them to be away from their residence overnight, and must be guaranteed an offer of employment for a total number of hours equal to at least 75% of the work period specified in the contract,” according to the DOL.
The DOL did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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