Fla. Farmer Fined For Paying Foreign Workers More Than Americans

[deadparrot]

Source: Associated Press

LAKE WALES, Fla. -- A farmer paid more than $200,000 in fines and back wages after federal authorities found he paid U.S. workers less than foreign laborers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Kenneth Hyatt, of Hyatt Farms in Lake Wales, paid $163,788 in back pay to more than 300 American workers and an additional penalty of $36,620, the agency said on Monday.

An administrative judge found in March that Hyatt failed to comply with a law that sets minimum wage rates for foreigners hired as seasonal, temporary workers and requires that American laborers get an equal wage.

"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," Jim Rogers, the acting director of the department's Wage and Hour Division in Tampa, said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.local6.com/news/13671649/detail.html