Seasonal workers substantially impacted by wage theft

There are many industries that rely on seasonal workers when their operations are more heavily underway. Many agricultural-based companies hire more workers during harvesting times or other particular seasons, and these workers can play a vital role in ensuring that the businesses continue to run smoothly. Of course, these workers also deserve their proper compensation, and when they do not, they can easily become victims of wage theft.

New York residents may be interested in this type of predicament that affected numerous seasonal workers in 2016 and 2017 in another state. Over 1,000 workers were sent to work by a contracting company to eight agricultural-based businesses to help with seasonal work. However, the subcontractor either did not pay the workers their final pay checks or delayed the payment.

Unfortunately, a delay or lack of payment can seriously impact seasonal workers. They may be unable to wait to receive payment because they need to move on to other work, which means either missing out on final payment or missing out on a new job if they wait. Additionally, many workers feel hesitant to bring up issues with pay because they fear that future employers will not want to hire them if they think the workers are making trouble. In this case, the contracting company and eight businesses that utilized the company are on the hook for nearly $647,000 in fines for the wage theft violations.

When workers do not receive their proper compensation, many of them may feel that they should simply let it go and move on. However, employers who commit wage theft need to be held accountable for their actions. If New York workers — seasonal or otherwise — believe that they have been the victims of wage law violations, they may want to explore their legal options for seeking recompense.

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