HOLUALOA (AP) — The U.S. Labor Department says an unregistered farm labor contractor deprived migrant workers picking coffee on the Big Island of federal protections such as minimum wage. ADVERTISING HOLUALOA (AP) — The U.S. Labor Department says an unregistered
HOLUALOA (AP) — The U.S. Labor Department says an unregistered farm labor contractor deprived migrant workers picking coffee on the Big Island of federal protections such as minimum wage.
The department says Tomasa Rincon-Ibarra’s Tomasita Farm Service wasn’t a registered farm labor contractor when she recruited and employed seasonal migrant workers in 2011. The department says she violated the Migrant Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. The law provides protections regarding wages, housing, transportation, disclosures and record-keeping.
In the filing, the department wrote Rincon-Ibarra’s company would not allow employees to return home on a daily basis, were paid 40 cents a pound for coffee and were not always paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
There also were a number of paperwork violations. The complaint said Rincon-Ibarra did not provide the employees anything in writing to describe where they were working, how much they would be paid, how long they would be working or other required items. They also alleged she was operating as an unlicensed farm labor contractor.
She couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
The department says Rincon-Ibarra is barred for seven years from registering as a farm labor contractor or engaging in any farm labor contractor activities.
West Hawaii Today staff contributed to this report.
