Employers have stolen more than $2.2 billion in wages over the last 25 years from workers in industries that employ H-2B workers: Back wages and civil money penalties assessed for wage and hour violations in industries with a high prevalence of H-2B workers, by industry, fiscal years 2000–2024
| Industry | Compliance Actions | Employees involved in violation | Employees owed back wages | Back wages assessed (2024$) | Average back wages owed per employee (2024$) | Civil money penalties assessed (2024$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All seven industries | 247,180 | 2,021,557 | 1,822,164 | $2,238,327,967 | $1,228 | $167,554,391 |
| Amusement | 8,138 | 74,216 | 67,019 | $40,037,461 | $597 | $11,641,069 |
| Construction | 74,380 | 653,135 | 595,140 | $1,052,484,332 | $1,768 | $28,961,835 |
| Food services | 120,006 | 932,696 | 828,393 | $829,555,849 | $1,001 | $96,121,840 |
| Forestry | 1,524 | 14,336 | 12,052 | $14,056,849 | $1,166 | $5,621,595 |
| Hotels and motels | 24,039 | 159,773 | 148,921 | $105,638,105 | $709 | $11,197,257 |
| Janitorial services | 12,732 | 116,200 | 106,252 | $119,191,774 | $1,122 | $6,113,121 |
| Landscaping services | 6,361 | 71,201 | 64,387 | $77,363,583 | $1,202 | $7,897,691 |
Notes: Tables include all violations of laws enforced in the selected industries by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor. The violations and back wages owed do not represent enforcement actions by the Wage and Hour Division that involve only H-2B workers; they represent violations and back wages owed to any worker in the seven selected H-2B industries. These may include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., green card holders), H-2B workers, or workers of any other immigration status, including unauthorized immigrant workers. Dollar amounts reported in this table have been adjusted for inflation to constant 2024 dollars using the C-CPI-U. As a result, the dollar amounts presented here may differ from the amounts reported in the source data. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Source: EPI analysis of Wage and Hour Division, “Industries with High Prevalence of H-2B Workers," U.S. Department of Labor [data tables for fiscal years 2014–2024 are available online as of June 25, 2025, and data for fiscal years 2000–2021 are on file with the author].
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