BANCROFT, Idaho — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) fined a potato farm in Bancroft $25,000 after its investigation found the farm had shortchanged their agricultural workers.
Jorgensen Management Inc., a potato farm in Bancroft, intentionally violated the H-2A provision of the guest worker program, according to an investigation by the U.S. DOL.
"By threatening and shortchanging some of the lowest-paid workers in our nation, Jorgensen Management showed a willful disregard for the law. They created a toxic workplace and victimized these vulnerable workers," Wage and Hour District Director, Carrie Aguilar, said in Portland, Oregon.
The investigation revealed that Jorgensen Management failed to pay the required rates to 69 domestic workers they had hired, alongside H-2A visa workers. The company additionally failed to provide workers with at least three-quarters of the work hours that had been guaranteed in their contracts and did not reimburse workers for their transportation costs.
After the investigation, the department recovered $159,256 in unpaid wages and assessed $25,430 in civil money penalties.
Not only were wages shortchanged, but the company also exposed agricultural workers to substandard living conditions while making threats to further intimidate and exploit their workforce, according to the department's Wage and Hour Division (WHD).
In addition to those violations, investigators determined that the employer threatened to terminate the work contract and send workers back to Mexico if they refused to accept the lower wages.
The division also found Jorgensen violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act by failing to meet mandatory housing safety and health standards, failing to disclose all conditions of employment, and not providing wage statements or pay wages to workers when due.
Seasonal guest workers are vital to the nation's food supply. According to the DOL, guest workers travel hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles for work, leaving their homes and families under the belief that their employers will comply with the H-2A program requirements that protect their wages and well-being.
"The outcome of this investigation sends a strong message to other employers that the Wage and Hour Division will not tolerate abuses of the H-2A program and will protect the rights of all people working in the U.S.," Aguilar said.
The WHD conducted 1,000 investigations of agricultural employers, helped more than 10,000 workers recover $8.4 million in back wages, and assessed $7 million in penalties for the 2021 fiscal year.
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