On the afternoon of July 31, Marco Hernandez began to feel a severe headache while cutting grass on a farm in Harnett County, North Carolina.
The 30-year-old farm worker, originally from Mexico and hired with a H-2A visaHe asked for permission to leave and receive medical attention.
His butler's response was negative. "We're right here," he told him, according to Hernández's account. Enlace Latino NCWith that response, he continued working until the end of the day, despite feeling unwell.
That night he had a fever and sweating; nevertheless, he went to work the next day. Once in the field, and barely having started work at 7:40 am, he began to vomit and feel dizzy.
“That’s when I said, ‘No, not anymore,’ ‘I’m going to quit,’” Hernández told Enlace Latino NC. He immediately told his butler that there was no one to take him to his home, to which the butler replied: "No, well, no, everyone is busy with their work."
Hernandez had to contact an acquaintance, as his butler did not provide transportation to his home or the hospital, paying a total of $40 for a third party to take him to and from the nearest health center, located 30 minutes away in Clayton.
There, he was informed that all his symptoms were signs of dehydration. “I felt like I was drunk,” Hernández said, describing his symptoms. Enlace Latino NC.
Hernández's case is not unique, although it is one of the most recent known. While he managed to find a way to receive medical attention, his case also brings to the forefront the issue of workplace negligence by butlers.
Workplace negligence
Under H-2A visa rules, the employer has the obligation to provide or cover transportation for workers to emergency medical services.
“When there is a need for medical attention, it is their [the employers'] obligation. And the fact that the employer did not want to take Hernández is negligence,” explained Leticia Zavala, co-coordinator of El Futuro es Nuestro, to Enlace Latino NC.
Denying mandatory transportation to a farmworker who was unwell is alarming, given that, between 2023 and the end of 2025, there have been reports of Multiple confirmed deaths of migrant farm workers with H-2A visas in North Carolina.
One of the most notable cases is that of José Arturo González Mendoza, an agricultural worker from Barnes Farming in Nash County, who died due to a heat-related incident.
The refusal of transportation was not the only problem Hernández faced: he also has not received the payment he was entitled to for the day he missed work due to his illness.
If you work in agriculture on an H-2A visa or are about to arrive in North Carolina, read our Guide for Agricultural Workers, with information on labor rights, working conditions, risk prevention, support resources and practical guidance for daily life in the countryside.
'One's life is not worth 11 dollars'
Leaving the fields early that Saturday cost Hernández his job.full-day salary. The following Monday, his employer asked him for proof justifying his absence.
“This morning they came looking for me to ask if I had any proof of excuse for the absence, and they just gave me this,” said Hernández, holding up the summary of the hospital visit that detailed the diagnoses and prescribed medications.
His butler, however, told him that those papers “didn’t work for him.”
“But I feel sick, I’m not going to go,” Hernández said. Because of this, he also missed work on Monday, as he still wasn’t feeling completely well.
“It’s not worth staying stranded”
At the farm where Hernandez works, the workers are paid $11.09 an hour and work shifts of between 10 and 13 hours a day.
This means that, for the two days he missed work due to his illness, he should have received between $200 and $286.
“One’s life isn’t worth $11.09 because I said, ‘Here, you come to kill yourself.’ It’s not worth staying here lying down, knowing what awaits you back in Mexico, even if it’s your father or your wife,” Hernández said.
Leticia Zavala, co-coordinator of The future is ours, explained to Enlace Latino NC Employment contracts stipulate that agricultural workers must receive their wages when they go to a clinic for a work-related illness or injury. However, he asserted that, in practice, this often does not happen.
“You think you have the support of the boss, but it turns out you don’t have the support of anyone, because they leave you alone because what matters to the boss is his job, that he does it well; and your life, well, not so much,” Hernández said.
Beyond the risks and challenges of working in the fields, these stories showcase the effort, sacrifices, and recognition of those who make it possible for food to reach our tables.
“We must be grateful for the sacrifice they make”: event celebrates farm workers
Vigil in Raleigh honors farmworkers who died from extreme heat
Workplace negligence
Reality shows, as Hernández did, that farm workers They continue to face situations of workplace negligence, while also having to cope with the effects of heat stress factors. and the long working hours.
Hernández, along with several day laborers, mentioned that during their work, they do have access to enough cold water and rest; however, their hours are long.
This makes them a population vulnerable to heat stroke, dehydration, gastric crises, and even more permanent damage such as kidney disease.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), heat stroke is the most serious health problem related to high temperatures that can happen to a worker.
Silence and enduring severe symptoms
According to several workers, they often choose to remain silent and endure severe symptoms of heatstroke such as dizziness, diarrhea, and cramps due to four main factors:
- Social pressure and teasing: fear that their own colleagues will mock them by saying that they “couldn’t take it”
- Employer threats: warnings from the butlers that they will not be rehired
- Prohibitive costs: the price of private transport and medical assistance
- Potential loss of income: Missing work can cost workers their daily wages.
"Keep record , an act of self-defense”
By federal law, before hiring foreign personnel under the H-2A visa program, ranchers are required to certify to the Department of Immigration that they have Workers' Compensation insurance.
This policy, as Zavala explained, must cover 100% of medical care, medicines, transfers and even salary compensation for temporary disability in cases of accidents or illnesses related to work, including severe dehydration and heat stroke.
However, in practice, some employers conceal breakdowns and reject medical justifications, as happened to Hernandez when his butler told him that the hospital's paperwork "didn't work for him," to prevent insurers from registering the incidents and increasing the cost of their annual insurance premiums.
Therefore, according to Zavala, documenting becomes an act of self-defense for the day laborers.
“Start keeping a log. If 'This happened today' or 'the water ran out at 12 and you were without water all afternoon,' write it down. If you don't need it at the end of the season, well, that's great, it won't be a problem, right? But if something happens to you, if you get fired, get sick, end up in the hospital, this is the evidence needed to defend you,” Zavala explained.
For Zavala and other advocates for farmworkers, labor negligence and impunity will persist until ranchers face tangible consequences.
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Here too, two colleagues suffered from heatstroke; one explained that his vision was blurred and that he had a headache, and the other said that he felt his heart beating very strongly and felt exhausted from the heat.