Beyond the border by NH Business Review for Mark Hayward

The number of temporary guest workers in New Hampshire has more than doubled over the last six years, with desperate employers reaching outside the country’s borders to hire more than 850 people this year.

Employers say they go to great lengths to bring in the workers on temporary work visas, most who work seasonal jobs in the hospitality, restaurant, landscaping and construction trades. Employers cover application fees, visa fees and travel, and they provide discount lodging.

At the minimum, they must pay a government-established prevailing wage far in excess of the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

They say they hire outside the United States because they cannot find help in New Hampshire.

The number of employers who are using it this year is the highest ever, 46.

“When COVID ended, we couldn’t find any workers.

They just didn’t come back,” said Steve Duprey, owner of Duprey Hospitality, which books out 471 rooms in Concord hotels.

Duprey Hospitality turned to guest workers, because the company was forced to mothball some of its hotel rooms due to a lack of housekeepers, he said.

This is the third year in the program, and the company employs 18 guest workers, most in housekeeping and some in maintenance and food service.

Last year, the number of H-2B visas granted for nonagricultural work in New Hampshire was the highest ever, 908, and it dropped slightly this year, to 853, according to data supplied by the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security.

“We wouldn’t be able to operate our hotels without them,” Duprey said.

The company works with a law firm and employment agency to fill the jobs. It spends an average of $2,400 per person in legal fees, visa fees and transportation to get a guest worker to New Hampshire.

It also has to comply with federal requirements, which include advertising to find local workers and employer certification from the Department of Homeland Security.

The federal government issues Social Security numbers to the workers, who pay federal income and payroll taxes, Duprey said.

The U.S. Labor Department sets the prevailing wages that companies must meet, based on the job and the location. For Duprey Companies, the wage is $15.14, and Duprey houses the workers in apartment-like rooms that his company controls.

The rent runs from $100 to $125 a week and includes utilities and telecommunications.

According to data from New Hampshire Employment Security, some of the lowest paid guest workers are in accommodation and food service. Pay is as low as $10 an hour for restaurant work. Construction work can generate $20.

Limits exist to the program. Congress has set a cap of 66,000 H-2B visas, but the law allows officials to override the cap. This year the Biden Administration authorized another 64,700 visas. Workers in that second tranche of visas must hail from Central America or Haiti.

The Omni Mount Washington Hotel is the single largest employer of H-2B visas, with 132. The company did respond to an email seeking comment for this article.

The H-2B program is not without its challenges. Two years ago, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute noted that most guest workers end up in industries plagued by wage theft and other lawbreaking by employers.

It called on the Biden Administration to issue regulations to better protect H-2B workers, and it said problem employers should be banned from the program.

The following year, the White House issued a four-point action plan to better protect H-2B workers. Part of the plan called for increased transparency, and data about state-by-state hires is available on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.

But it does not provide information about labor-law violations involving H-2B workers. In New Hampshire, the state Labor Department investigates labor law violations, but it does not identify workers by their immigration status, said Labor Commissioner Ken Merrifield.

Duprey lauds the work ethic and team spirit of his guest workers; nearly all hail from Central America. In an hour in Concord, they earn what would take them a day to earn in their native county, Duprey said.

Some know English well; for others, the company relies on Google Translate.

The company does the best it can to encourage workers to return after their six-month stint at Duprey Hospitality. (H-2B work visas are good for three years, after which a worker must return home for a minimum of 90 days before applying for another visa and coming to the United States for another three years at six-month stints.)

As part of a team-building effort, Duprey transports his workers to New Hampshire fun spots: the Seacoast, a Fisher Cats game, the Tilton outlets.

“They came here to make money, but we also want them to have a good experience,” he said.

Many H-2B visa holders end up in the Lakes Region, where seasonal workers are at a premium. Harts Turkey Farm restaurant, the NASWA Resort, Bald Peak Colony Club, Steele Hill Resorts and Center Harbor Dock and Pier are some of the Lakes Region employers who won approval for guest workers, according to the state data.

“It’s definitely a topic for our members,” said Karmen Gifford, president of the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce. She said some have been employing H-2B workers for decades, and the workers have fit into the fabric of the region.

NH Business Review reached out to several of those employers. They either did not return a call or would not be interviewed. One business owner spoke at length and praised the program. But the owner then asked not to be quoted or named, either in person or as the business.

The Lakes Region is one of the most conservative areas of New Hampshire. Belknap County is the only one in New Hampshire with a plurality of Republican registrations.

Belknap was also the only of two counties that former President Donald Trump won in 2020. Trump campaigns heavily on anti-immigrant themes such as mass deportations.

“I don’t have a problem with immigrant workers who are here legally; I have a problem with the word illegally,” said state Rep. Harry Bean, R-Gilford, who was elected six years ago and is a Trump supporter.

He said he doesn’t fault local employers who turn to guest workers, given the scarcity of workers. He said the COVID-19 pandemic drove many from the workforce, and they never returned.

“If we could get some of the people on the gravy train to go back to work, we wouldn’t need as many of (the guest workers),” he said.

Duprey, a former chairman of the state Republican Party, noted that the former U.S. Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, spearheaded an immigration bill that would have secured the border, deported immigrants with criminal histories, put long-term undocumented workers on a path to citizenship and improved the guest-worker programs.

“It’s a disgrace that Congress can’t come up with a compromise,” Duprey said. “As John McCain used to say, it’s not that hard.”