CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Wage and Hour Division will host an online seminar on April 18 at 1 p.m. EDT on the proper employment of temporary nonimmigrant workers with H-2B guest visas for employers, worker advocates and other stakeholders, as part of an ongoing division initiative to ensure that Midwest employers comply with federal laws governing the program.
The H-2B visa program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign workers to the U.S. for non-agricultural or other work for a one-time occurrence, such labor needed on a seasonal, peak load or intermittent basis.
Since 2018, the division has identified more than $4 million in back wages owed by employers to nearly 2,000 workers and assessed nearly $2.2 million in civil money penalties to resolve pay practice violations. In total, Wage and Hour investigators have conducted 100 H-2B investigations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin since 2018.
“Our team in the Midwest has made significant progress in holding violators accountable for violating the rights of thousands of workers in the H-2B program,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri in Chicago. “This ongoing initiative is designed to make sure employers meet specific requirements that protect the rights of workers – both U.S. workers and those with H-2B visas – to be paid their legal wages and benefits as the law requires, and that employers answer for their violations.”
Since 2018, the division has debarred 12 Midwest employers and contractors for H-2B visa program violations.
Federal investigators find employers in the H-2B program who violate the law commonly:
Fail to hire or rehire qualified U.S. workers.
Offer more favorable working conditions, and/or imposed restrictions or obligations on the H-2B workers that they did not offer or apply equally to U.S. workers.
Make illegal deductions or fail to include all hours worked, which results in the employer’s failure to pay the offered wage for entire period of intended employment.
Fail to pay for H-2B workers’ inbound and outbound travel expenses, and subsistence.
Attend the H-2B webinar on April 18 at 1 p.m. EDT.
For more information about the labor provisions of the H-2B program and other laws that the division enforces, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).
Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, the labor provisions of the H-2B program, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.
Lists of H-2B program employers found in violation, and those debarred since 2018 follow this release.
Division investigations identified the following H-2B violations by these Midwest employers:
Employer
City
State
Back wages
Employees
Penalties
Year
Northwoods Forestry/A& C Forestry
Eleva
WI
$1,144,693
263
$210,696
2023
Epic Landscape Productions
Gardner
KS
$450,000
141
$65,000
2023
Canyon Stone Inc.
Olathe
KS
$223,495
62
$63,191
2020
Valdes Lawncare & Snow Removal
North Lake Elmo
MN
$118,950
72
$127,562
2022
Metropolitan Concrete
Sterling Heights
MI
$73,647
15
$29,161
2018
M & M Carpenters
Auburn Hills
MI
$63,659
4
$54,200
2023
The department has debarred the following Midwest employers from H-2B program participation since 2018:
Employer
City
State
Luis Landscaping LLC
Collinsville
Illinois
Jimenez and Sons Landscaping Inc.
Homer Glen
Illinois
Mulford Concrete LLC
Hampton
Iowa
Great Lakes Services LLC, operating as Great Wolf Lodge
Sandusky
Ohio
M & M Carpenter Inc.
Auburn Hills
Michigan
Gomez Lawn Care LLC
Holland
Michigan
Great Lakes Stripping and Sealing Inc.
Traverse City
Michigan
Valdes Lawn Care & Snow Removal LLC
Hastings
Minnesota
Mitchell Inc.
Pacific
Missouri
Northwoods Forestry Inc.
Eau Claire
Wisconsin
A & C Forestry Inc
Eleva
Wisconsin
Euphorbia Lawn and Landscaping LLC
St. Ann
Missouri
