The California Labor Commissioner’s Office just settled a lawsuit with the Santa Maria-based company Alco Harvesting, also known as Bonipak Produce, and some farmworkers will receive back pay and damages for labor law violations.
More than 10 thousand workers were affected by “widespread wage-and-hour violations” according to a press release from California’s Department of Industrial Relations.
In 2020, the Labor Commissioner’s Office learned that an Alco Harvesting worker who was in California on a temporary H-2A visa died of COVID-19.
The worker was living in employee-owned housing with other H-2A workers. In California, workers qualify for sick time regardless of immigration status.
Anel Flores, an attorney with the Department of Industrial Relations, said workers weren’t told how much sick time they had available on their paychecks, the way that California law requires.
“If you know that you have time, perhaps you will go to get that COVID test, right?” Flores said. “Or maybe you'll stay home because you're exhibiting some symptoms, but you're not sure.”
Flores said an investigation found other issues with minimum wage and overtime pay.
Erika Diaz-Cervantes is the Associate Policy Director for the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, an organization that connected farmworkers near Santa Maria with agencies where they could report labor law violations.
“Farmworkers are often left in a difficult situation of, ‘Do I keep my job and make sure that I can provide a roof over my family's head? Or do I make a complaint to an agency that may or may not resolve the issue?’” Diaz-Cervantes said.
More than $4 million of the $6.2 million settlement between the Labor Commissioner’s Office and Alco Harvesting will go to farmworkers.
Flores says that the settlement will also require new posting and notices in the workplace.
“It's more than just money, it's also trying to change the practices of the employer so that in the future other workers know about paid sick leave.”
Alco Harvesting didn’t respond in time to KCBX’s request for comment.
If you were a farmworker for Alco Harvesting from 2018 to 2026, Flores says to contact the office of the Department of Industrial Relations.
