Farm labor contractor fined for violations

The Californian

A farm labor contractor operating in the Salinas Valley violated a long list of federal labor laws, including employing a 13-year-old during school hours, the U.S. Department of Labor announced in a statement Wednesday. Jorge Castro Farms, based in Santa Cruz, committed the violations while it employed migrant and seasonal agricultural workers for Pezzini Berry Farms in Salinas, according to the statement. Pezzini Farms had no comment on the case Wednesday afternoon.

The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division investigated the contractor in October and found that Jorge Castro Farms charged workers for rent that it did not disclose would be charged before hiring. Jorge Castro Farms paid $34,650 in back wages that it owed 25 workers, the DOL said.

Investigators uncovered violations in worker housing that included crowding, electrical hazards, a substandard cooking facility and unsanitary conditions. They also found a 13-year-old boy employed and harvesting with family members during school hours. Labor laws permit 12- and 13-year-olds to be employed with parental permission only outside of school hours.

Jorge Castro farms also paid $13,900 in penalties and submitted a plan for future compliance, according to the DOL. Labor law violations included child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the housing, safety and health provisions of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.

Most of the investigation — which found violations going back to April 2010 — was typical, said Alberto Raymond, assistant district director for the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

'What is somewhat unusual is the minor,' he said.

The violations delayed a 10,000-pound shipment of frozen strawberries that Pezzini Farms sold to Cal Pacific Specialty Foods in Moss Landing, according to the DOL. Upon discovering the violations, the Labor Department invoked the 'hot goods' provision, which prevents goods that were produced in violation of labor laws from being shipped out of state.

The Labor Department released the berries after Jorge Castro Farms paid the back wages and penalties. The process took two to three weeks, said Raymond. A lawyer for Cal Pacific Specialty Foods could not be reached on Wednesday.

'Migrant, seasonal and temporary nonimmigrant farmworkers are among the most vulnerable and disadvantaged employees we see,' said Susana Rincon, director of the Wage and Hour Division's San Francisco District Office, in the statement.

'It's important that consumers know the food reaching their tables has been produced by employees legally old enough to work, who were paid and treated fairly,' she said.

The violations by Jorge Castro Farms were discovered because of the periodic site visits Raymond said are part of the Wage and Hour Division's 'directed program to see if contractors and farmers are in compliance.'

Although Jorge Castro Farms submitted a compliance plan, 'there could be follow-up in this case,' said Raymond.

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