Dive Brief:
- A bakery in Maine has agreed to pay more than $94,000 in back wages and penalties to resolve claims that it violated the rules for H-2B visa applicants, as well as a variety of minimum wage and child labor laws. Bread and Roses Bakery entered into the agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
- DOL says an investigation revealed that the bakery failed to attempt to recruit American workers before foreign nationals by advertising their openings at a lower wage rate than what was actually paid. The agency argues that U.S. workers may have applied for the work had the higher rate been advertised.
- The company also hired workers as counter attendants, but assigned them to baker positions, in some cases not paying the workers the prevailing wage. They also paid straight time for overtime hours, extended too many hours to a minor and failed to reimburse employees for visa expenses.
Dive Insight:
The settlement comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s push to “Buy American, Hire American.” In October, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against a Colorado company it said discriminated against American workers by hiring seasonal foreign workers instead. The executive order was aimed to protect American jobs and promote hiring U.S. citizens before foreign nationals.
DOL recently reported that the number of H-2B visa applications tripled in 2018 compared to 2017, which was also a record year for applications. The cap for applications for the first half of 2018 was reached months before usual, in December of last year. The agency is changing the way it’s processing the applications due to the volume. Applications are still being accepted for the second half of 2018, but are expected to increase as well.
Employers in hospitality and food service rely heavily on the program for seasonal workers, but are not confident they’ll be able to meet their hiring needs in the face of the executive order.