Trainer George Weaver has agreed to pay $325,431 in owed wages to employees and $99,567 in civil penalties related to violations of labor and immigration laws, according to a report by The Miami Herald Friday.
A federal judgment states 59 employees will receive $2,548 each in what the government said was unpaid overtime pay. A portion of the penalties assessed to Weaver were for incorrect timekeeping practices, according to the report.
Several New York-based trainers have come under scrutiny by federal agencies for their employment practices in recent years, particularly timekeeping. Federal standards require employers to have an accurate timekeeping method and pay employees hourly, with a change in rate for overtime pay; this is not typically the method of payment for backstretch employees, who are more commonly paid a flat rate based on the number of days, weeks, or horses worked.
The U.S. Department of Labor also assessed penalties for what it said were violations of the federal H-2B visa program, including adherence to the program’s minimum wage standards, charging employees for costs related to utilizing the program, and trying to discourage employees from reporting to federal investigators or cooperating with the proceedings.
In 2019, the Saratoga Institute on Equine, Racing, and Gaming Law touched on the topic of H-2B and wages law in an effort to correct common misconceptions about the federal requirements. You can read more about how those issues impact racing employers from our reporting here.
Read more about the recent Weaver settlement at The Miami Herald
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