A 13-page June 2010 report outlined abuses allegedly suffered by farm workers, including wage theft, sexual harassment, and inferior and dangerous housing for its workers. The report calls on DOL to hold especially repeat offending farm employers responsible for violations of federal labor laws that aim to protect hired workers.
The report notes that at least half of US crop workers are unauthorized, and that their unauthorized status as well as lack of English and ignorance of US labor laws makes them vulnerable to abuse. The report concluded that DOL has a "very poor" record of labor law enforcement to protect farm workers; the report says that 110 of the 21,375 investigations of Fair Labor Standards Act in FY08 were in agriculture. There were 1,500 investigations under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, and the average civil money penalty for MSPA violations between 2002 and 2008 was $342, a third of the maximum penalty.
The report says that there is a race to the bottom in agriculture, as some employers violate labor, immigration and tax laws to reduce costs and encourage others to follow suit to remain competitive. It cites the growing use of farm labor contractors, and calls for farm employers to be jointly liable for labor law violations with the FLCs who bring workers to their farms….
http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1558_0_6_0
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