Brickman Fights H-2B Ruling

The Brickman Group is fighting back after a federal judge ruled that the company owes back pay to foreign seasonal workers.

A recent ruling in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania says the company must pay visa costs, labor broker fees and initial transportation costs for the workers who filed a case against the company. Although there is some dispute as to the precise number of plaintiffs named, the list totals around 100.
 
According to the law, certain expenses may not be deducted form an employee’s paycheck if the deduction brings the paycheck below the minimum wage rate. The employees allege that they earned less than the minimum wage in their first paycheck after visa, broker fees and initial transportation expenses were paid by the workers and therefore deemed a deduction.
 
Brickman argued in the case that it should only be responsible for expenses directly related to the job, but the judge ruled that the visa, broker fees and initial transportation costs should be covered by the employer because the visa allows the worker to only work for a specified employer, making them separate from ordinary living expenses. But the worker can petition to transfer the visa to another employer, Brickman points out in the case. The judge did side with Brickman in ruling that passport and certain other costs must be borne by the worker.
 
Mark Hjelle, president of The Brickman Group, said he couldn’t comment on the case because it is still actively in litigation, but he did say the company is planning to pursue an appeal.
 
“This has not been our understanding of what the law is,” he says, adding it is also not the understanding of other H-2B users. The ruling could have consequences for all the program’s users, he says.
 
Hjelle also indicates that the employees who filed the suit are a small group compared to the total number of H-2B workers the company hires. The Brickman Group was ranked No. 3 in Lawn & Landscape’s 2007 list of the industry’s top 100 revenue earners.