Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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TAMPA, Fla. -- Kenneth Hyatt, owner of Hyatt Farms in Lake Wales, Fla., has been ordered to pay $200,408 in back wages and penalties for failing to provide equal benefits to 307 U.S. (domestic) workers who were employed in tasks listed under a U.S. Department of Labor-certified job order for H-2A (foreign) workers from 2001 to 2003.

The order was issued by a Labor Department administrative law judge following an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

“This action reflects the Labor Department’s continued commitment to ensuring that low-wage workers’ rights and wages are protected, and that employers not engage in preferential treatment to foreign workers over U.S. workers,” said Jim Rogers, acting director of the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Tampa.

Investigators found that Hyatt Farms committed a series of violations which included failing to provide U.S. workers with copies of the H-2A work contract and job order, failing to pay U.S. workers applicable adverse effect wage rates, and giving preferential treatment to H-2A workers.

The 307 domestic workers were awarded $163,788 in back wages due under the Immigration Reform and Control Act. Hyatt Farms agreed to pay an additional penalty of $36,620.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act authorizes the admission of temporary nonimmigrant H-2A workers to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. Employers participating in the H-2A program are required to comply with specified labor standards relating to wages, transportation, housing and records.

The Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 workers and assessed nearly $7.9 million in civil money penalties in federal fiscal year 2006.

For more information about H-2A labor standards and other laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243) or contact the division’s Tampa District Office at 4905 West Laurel Street, Room 300; telephone (813) 288-1242. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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