A California farm labor contractor has been fined for rejecting a local worker in favor of a foreign agricultural guest, among other abuses, the U.S. Labor Department announced. Empire Farm Labor Contractor, based in Salinas, Calif., also held onto foreign workers’ documents and failed to compensate them for transportation time, according to the Labor Department. The announcement was the second in as many weeks involving the agricultural guest worker program in California. Officials from Empire Farm Labor Contractor were not immediately available for comment. Companies employing foreign guest workers also must show they have made efforts to find and hire local applicants.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 26, 2019 22:04 UTC