A Yuma farming business was fined $1,400 by the U.S. Department of Labor for not paying lettuce pickers as they waited for ice to melt off plants before harvesting them.
Amigo Farms Inc. had to provide $13,000 in back wages to 32 workers.
Rodolfo Cortez at the Department of Labor in San Diego said there is a“growing concern over the illegal practice of failing to pay workers for time spent waiting when they’re on the clock.”
The company says the nonpayment was an unfortunate error and that the workers have since been paid. The farm says it never planned to avoid paying workers.