Investigation finds local potato farm offers illegal low wages or deportation to workers
BANCROFT, Idaho (KIFI) - The U.S. Department of Labor found a potato farm in Bancroft failed to pay required wages and provide safe living conditions for its foreign workers.
An investigation by the department's Wages and Hour Division determined Jorgensen Management Inc. violated the H-2A guest worker program.
Investigators said the employer threatened to terminate their work contract and send workers back to Mexico if they refused to accept wages at a lower rate than legally required under the program.
They also found Jorgensen failed to meet mandatory housing safety and health standards, failed to disclose all conditions of employment, failed to provide wage statements to workers, and failed to pay wages when due.
The department recovered $159,256 in unpaid wages and assessed $25,430 in civil money penalties.
“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,” said Wage and Hour District Director Carrie Aguilar in Portland, Oregon in a media release. “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.”
For more information about the H-2A visa program and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.
