Employers Repaid Fees from SD Companies

Four separate employers have been working on repaying thousands of dollars to foreign employees. These employees were forced to pay employment recruiter fees and the government does not permit those types of fees.

During the month of January, the Labor Department made it clear that Custer State Park Resorts needed to pay back thousands of dollars to different foreign employees that were hired during the 2010 touring season. In total, the resorts needed to pay back approximately $93,000 between just about 72 different employees. There are some other resorts, such as Xanterra Parks and Resorts, which are also being forced to pay these fees back to the foreign employees. Each of these companies was working with the Global Employment Agency. The agency has actually been shut down as an investigation is currently going on.

Scott Kaubisch claims that he was not working against the foreign employees and that he was working for them by arranging rides and housing for them so that they would be comfortable in a different area while they were working at the resort. He insists that he did not exploit any of these workers and says that he and the companies did absolutely nothing to hurt these employees. He claims that everyone made sure that these workers were well taken care of.

However, the Labor Department says that charging foreign employees worker fees just to get a position is not allowed. In fact, Kaubisch was charging up to $1,500 for each employee in worker fees. As of right now, there has not been any action made against him and that is mainly because the business he works for will be liable for what he has done. In the meantime, Kaubisch continues to claim his innocence, saying that he has not misled the companies and that each of the employers knew about the workers fees ahead of time.

However, Josh Schmaltz, the general manager for Custer State Park Resorts, claims that Kaubisch was not honest with him and never mentioned taking out any money up front. Schmaltz says that Kaubisch was clear about being reimbursed but never talked about workers fees. When the Labor Department did their investigation, they found out that he was not being reimbursed and instead was charging a workers fee to foreign employees.

Most agree that what Kaubisch has done is unfair. The foreign employees spend money out of their own pockets to come over and work during the touring season as a way to make money. When the foreign employees come over here to work and earn an income, it is not fair to charge such fees, which only puts them in even more debt and takes money from them that they simply do not have.