Far from home, worker calls Labor Department, desperate for help

It was my fourth year as a Wage and Hour investigator when I got the call that would lead me to a powerful lesson: As a U.S. Department of Labor employee, I can make a difference. 

A Peruvian sheepherder, who spoke mostly Quechua, was hired as an H-2A worker with a Colorado agriculture employer. Peruvian sheepherders bring vast experience and were hired to perform herding in the highlands of Colorado – an industry that supports the billion-dollar garment industry. 

The H-2A temporary agricultural worker program permits employers to hire foreign agricultural workers when the employer demonstrates that there are not sufficient domestic workers who are willing, able, qualified and available to perform the work. 

Shepherding can be a tireless, tough job. Workers are in the fields for months alone and not allowed to bring family members with them to the United States. In fact, frequently, their only contact with the outside world is with their employer. 

But this worker was in a terrible, tight spot: The caller reported that his employer confiscated his visa. He feared for his life, had no money to return to Peru and needed his documents. Through my investigation of these circumstances for the Wage and Hour Division, I learned that the allegations were true, and that the employer had taken the worker’s visa, checkbook and contract. 

With the help of a Peruvian Consulate, the Wage and Hour Division was able to ensure the worker’s personal documents and earned wages were returned to him promptly, enabling him to return to his home country and family safely. 

This case had an immediate impact on me and gives me a sense of purpose. This was the proudest moment in my career: I learned to appreciate the opportunities that have come my way to make a difference through my work in worker’s and employer’s lives – people in America and sometimes people from around the world. 

Lesbia A. Rodriguez is an assistant district director in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. She has worked for the department since 2003 serving as an investigator and assistant district director, and acting district director in the Southwest and Southeast Regions. She leads teams of investigators and technicians for the Orlando District office which covers more than 40 counties in Florida with enforcement and compliance assistance programs.