Landmark Wage Theft Settlement: New York Dairy Farm Workers Awarded $150,000 in Back Wages

In a significant development against wage theft, two dairy farm workers in Lewis County have received a total of nearly $150,000 in back wages following a settlement in a legal case. The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) revealed that Hancor Holsteins, a local dairy farm, had failed to pay its workers the overtime wages they were entitled to for a period of almost two years. The farm neglected to compensate its employees for hours worked beyond the 60-hour threshold mandated by the Farm Laborer Fair Practice Act.

After filing complaints, the two farm workers detailed their grievances, citing non-payment of overtime hours for the duration spanning January 1, 2020, to December 12, 2021. As part of the investigation, Hancor Holsteins admitted to tampering with payroll records to understate actual hours worked, deliberately evading overtime payments.

In a resolution aimed at rectifying the injustice, each worker received more than $74,000 in compensation, effectively covering the underpayment owed to them.

The Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act, implemented in New York State as of January 2020, mandates that all farm workers receive one and a half times their regular rate of pay for any hours worked beyond 60 hours in a calendar week. The legislation also established the Farm Laborers Wage Board, which recommended a phased reduction of the overtime pay threshold to 40 hours per week over a 10-year period, beginning in 2024. The NYSDOL has subsequently adopted these new labor overtime regulations, initiating the gradual reduction process on January 1, 2024, with an initial threshold of 56 hours. This reduction will continue every other year, ultimately reaching 40 hours by 2032.

The NYSDOL's relentless pursuit of labor justice has yielded significant results over the past decade, with over $360 million in recovered stolen wages, identification of over a million misclassified workers, and the assessment of more than $400 million owed in unemployment insurance contributions. These outcomes reflect the state's unwavering commitment to combating wage theft through both criminal prosecutions and civil enforcement.

As New York State continues its efforts to protect workers' rights, this wage theft settlement serves as a notable milestone, underscoring the importance of fair labor practices and the imperative to hold employers accountable for their obligations to their employees.

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