Contractor fined for underpaying Mendocino County harvest workers

A federal probe found a contractor failed to pay workers for three weeks during last fall's harvest at Roederer Estate.|
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO — A California contractor has been ordered to pay farmworkers more than $163,000 for violating federal minimum wage rules.

A Department of Labor investigation found Manuel Quezada failed to pay 59 workers for three weeks during last fall's grape harvest at the Roederer Estate in Mendocino County.

Quezada has provided work crews for the past 10 years at the winery. He also provides work crews for grape harvesting, pruning and other harvesting jobs in almond and walnut groves in Northern California.

The Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1MR4CAU ) that Quezada was cited for several violations, including not paying employees at least biweekly or semimonthly; not providing wage statements to workers; and not disclosing employment conditions to workers.

Quezada did not comment to the newspaper following the citations.

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Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com

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