U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found Patel Shippers LLC, which provides fruits and vegetables from India and Asia to grocery stores in 10 states, including Florida, denied 25 workers overtime wages by paying them straight-time rates for all hours worked, including for hours over 40 in a workweek. The employer also failed to pay three workers at least the federal minimum wage by not keeping an accurate record of hours worked. Their actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Back wages and liquidated damages recovered: $71,047 in back wages and liquidated damages for 25 workers.
Quote: “Employers have a legal obligation to pay workers for all the hours that they work. When they fail to do so they may owe back wages and liquidated damages,” said Wage and Hour Division Acting District Director Anthony Delgado in Miami. “We remain committed to ensuring essential protections for workers, and to providing clear and confidential compliance assistance to any worker or employer with questions.”
Background: Patel Shippers LLC delivers fruit and vegetables to grocery stores in Miami, Sunrise and West Palm Beach. The company also supplies grocers in Arizona, California, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
Department also recovers $540,000 for 268 NC guest workers
Two federal investigations have recovered $540,221 in wages for 268 H-2A workers from a father and son, then operating as North Carolina farm labor contractors, and whose violations of federal laws included failing to pay some workers their full wages, to provide safe and adequate housing and to reimburse workers’ transportation costs.
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the H-2A program, which enables agricultural employers to employ temporary non-immigrant workers, protect all people working in the U.S., including American citizens and others, regardless of immigration status.
Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined Becerra Enterprises Inc., owner Luis A. Becerra and his son, Luis A. Becerra Jr., who are based out of Arcadia, Florida, recruited, hired, housed and transported H-2A workers to harvest sweet potatoes, cucumbers and tobacco at Blake Edwards Roberson Farms and Taylor Grimes Farms in Robersonville and Anderson Farms in Tarboro, North Carolina.
For more information:
Eric R. Lucero
U.S. Department of Labor
Tel.: +1 678-237-0630
Email: [email protected]
