Naswa Resort pays $125, 000 in back wages, fines over labor violations

MANCHESTER — A Laconia resort paid $64,449 in back wages to 64 employees and $60,550 in penalties to resolve violations of the non-immigrant visa program, the U.S. Department of Labor said Wednesday.

Investigators said Naswa Resort failed to comply with several requirements of the H-2B visa program, which permits employers to hire temporary non-immigrant foreign workers to perform nonagricultural labor or services in the U.S. for a limited time.

The resort failed to offer the same terms and working conditions to U.S. job applicants that it provided to H-2B employees during 2016 and 2017, the department said. In its job advertisement, the resort stated that employees would be required to pay for housing and a security deposit, but did not require H-2B employees to pay the security deposit and did not require all H-2B employees to pay for housing.

The advertisement offered 35 weekly hours, less than the 2016 and 2017 weekly averages of 48 and 45, respectively. It also failed to include the availability of a higher rate of pay in the job advertisement. Other violations included overcharging foreign employees for housing.

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