H2 Employers have obligations that must be met. Failure to follow the rules can be more costly to the employers than just simply following the rules in the first place. Have questions about the H2A or H2B Temporary Labor Programs? Email us at info@actionvisa.com
2 COMPANIES TO PAY $210,000 IN WAGES, PENALTIES AFTER US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FINDS H-2B GUEST WORKER PROGRAM VIOLATIONS
The employers neglected to contact U.S. workers from the prior season to solicit them to return to work and omitted critical benefits from required job recruitment ads, in violation of program requirements. These violations resulted in a sharp drop in the overall number of U.S. workers employed. Investigators identified 38 former U.S. workers who lost their jobs.
The investigation also found that the employers:
Required H-2B workers to work outside their approved job classifications and perform work that should have been paid at a higher rate of pay.
Failed to pay H-2B workers for subsistence costs while traveling to and from their home country.
Failed to disclose the deduction of housing costs from wages to H-2B workers in advance.
It also determined that one of the employers paid H-2B housekeepers less than the offered wage rate.