The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will use investigations and outreach to workers and employers in the southeast’s agricultural industry to continue its efforts to increase federal labor law compliance, according to a March 17 news release.
Industry stakeholders in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North and South Carolina and Tennessee will work with the division to explore methods to increase awareness and to give them tools to increase compliance, according to the Department of Labor.
“Compliance assistance and enforcement work hand-in-hand, and data supports the need for the division’s focus on both fronts,” Juan Coria, Wage and Hour Division regional administrator in Atlanta, said.
Efforts to protect workers and combat labor trafficking include encouraging recruiters, labor contractors, growers, processors, distributors, wholesalers and retailers in the country to join the efforts, he said.
Coria noted the Wage and Hour Division is committed to protecting workers who work hard to put food on America’s tables, according to the Department of Labor.
“When employers attempt to unlawfully increase their profits at the expense of the dignity, respect and – in some cases freedom – of workers, we will use every available tool to hold them accountable,” he said.
Investigations conducted by the Wage and Hour Division's Southeast Region office in 2021 found 81 percent of the nearly 300 investigations they completed of agricultural employers found violations. More than 4,000 employees were reportedly owed more than $1.9 million. Civil penalties of more than $1.7 million were assessed, the department said.
These investigations led to the debarring of seven growers and farm labor contractors from eligibility to participate in the H-2A temporary labor certification agricultural guest worker program during the same time period, according to the department.
