Hourly rates below the minimum wage, failure to comply with vacation and working hours rules: the CNESST is demanding more than $370,000 additional from Finex, a fiber cement manufacturer in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, on behalf of three temporary foreign workers. The employer strongly denies the allegations and the cases are being heard in court.
Published at 1:21 am. Updated at 5:00 am.
These claims are in addition to another worker’s $33,000 claim, which La Presse reported last summer. They all concern hourly rates of $10, well below the minimum wage, and non-compliance with rules on holidays, vacations and hours worked.
These four workers had a closed work permit linked to the Finex company. In mid-August, La Presse reported that they had denounced what they described as “abusive treatment.”
Two of them, Juan Barahona Madrid, 29, and his brother Carlos, 39, are from Honduras. The other two, David Davalos, 35, and Daniel Morales, 36, are from Mexico.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
The four workers are Daniel Morales, Juan Barahona Madrid, David Davalos and Carlos Barahona Madrid.
They say they were forced to work up to 80 hours a week, seven days a week, with no days off, and were paid about $10 an hour, far below what they were promised. According to them, the employer had introduced a scheme that consisted of paying the agreed salary and then demanding reimbursement of part of the amount in cash.
From $33,000 to $183,000
In its four notices of complaint, the Commission on Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) accepts their version, pointing out that the hours worked far exceeded the schedules provided by Finex and, on behalf of the workers, requests that they investigated their cases, amounts ranging from $33,000 to $183,000, for a total of $404,450.
These amounts include hours worked, overtime, public holidays, vacation and recruiting-related costs. The first decision was made on June 21st. The other three followed on September 5th.
However, it is important to note that a CNESST complaint does not constitute a binding decision against the employer.
The owner denies
The company’s owner, Helios Munoz, 67, “strongly denies these allegations” and denies the claims.
It is the Quebec court (for claims less than $70,000) or the Supreme Court (for claims more than $70,000) that ultimately decides whether compensation must be paid and how much it should be, we explained to Finex’s lawyer, Me Jean-François Lépine.
“It’s completely ridiculous,” responded the owner, Mr. Munoz. For Juan Barahona Madrid I paid about $45,000 for 2022. Now the CNESST is demanding $170,000 for him alone. It doesn’t last! He worked with us for less than two years. »
The CNESST visited Finex on February 22, 2023, he states. “All the documents they asked me for, the payslips, the stamps, everything, everything, everything they asked me for, I showed them and they left with it for four months. Nevertheless, the only communication I had with them was on February 22, 2023. They did not listen to my version. »
The company employs 21 people, including five temporary foreign workers.
What does the employer risk?
In addition to the CNESST, Immigration Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have also launched investigations.
If Mr. Munoz is found non-compliant, meaning he has not respected his responsibilities to his workers, he will face financial sanctions from Immigration Canada. The amount of the penalties depends on the size of the company and the type of violation. For a company with fewer than 100 employees like Finex, penalties range from $500 to $15,000.
Employers sanctioned in this way may also be prohibited from hiring new foreign workers for a certain period of time or forever.
New jobs
The plaintiffs, for their part, found a new employer.
On August 1, they received an Open Vulnerable Worker Permit, which is granted by the federal government to migrant workers who experience or are at risk of experiencing violence in the course of their employment in Canada.
David Davalos, Juan Barahona Madrid and his brother Carlos work for Béton Brunet in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. Daniel Morales found a job in a restaurant.
“I’m super happy,” says Juan. Béton Brunet treats us well. We normally work 42, 43 hours a week and can spend the weekend with our families. With this new job we also have time to learn French, which we didn’t have at Finex.” “Telling the truth changed my life. »
The Finex company should not be confused with an exterior cladding installer of the same name in the Lanaudière region.
Learn more
35,215 Number of temporary foreign workers in Quebec as of December 31, 2022
Source: Quebec Ministry of Immigration, Frenchization and Integration