Federal court sanctions a San Diego company that paid half the minimum wage to Mexicans

SAN DIEGO – For paying less than a minimum wage per hour and in mexican pesos, despite the fact that the work was carried out in San Diego, California, a federal judge ordered a company to pay $ 235,000 in back wages and fines.

The United States Department of Labor reported, through its website, that the Premar Global Warehouse Logistics company hired 16 mexican workers, who had to report to work in the city of San Diego, however, their salary was of $ 3.38 dollars per hour.

The federal office carried out an investigation to the company and discovered that the salary it gave was less than $ 4 per hour and although their workday stipulated in the law was 40 hours a week, every week they worked an average of 45 to 51 hours.

Although the working time per week was lengthening, overtime was never covered, it was announced.

Investigators from the Wage and the Labor Standards Act (FLSA) discovered that the company had hired 16 Mexican workers who worked as merchandise inspectors in the city of San Diego, paid in mexican pesos and not in dollars.

For these offenses, it was determined that the company violated the concepts of minimum wage, overtime, and record-keeping requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Following investigations, the United States District Court for the Southern District in San Diego ordered that the company and its owner, Tomas Martinez Leal, should pay $ 154,100 in back wages for overtime; as well as $ 75,900 in minimum wages for the 16 workers. In addition, the court ordered to pay a civil fine of $ 5,000, giving a total of 235 thousand dollars.

The Regional Administrator of the Wages and Hours Division, Rubén Rosalez, in San Francisco, California, assured that “this case is a wake-up call to the customs warehousing industry; Paying workers as little as $ 3 an hour will not be tolerated”.

“The United States Department of Labor will use all legal means at our disposal to ensure that people who work on American soil receive a fair wage and that employers who underpay workers do not gain an unfair competitive advantage over employers who they comply with the law”.

It was announced that the Department of Labor has personnel who are qualified to speak 200 languages, therefore, this will not be a barrier to help and act in cases where there are labor violations.