BRP said Wednesday that it disagrees with the Quebec Commission on Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work, which accuses the snowmobile maker of violating the law by hiring the Mexican workers it hired at its Quebec factory has, underpaid.

The company acknowledged that following an investigation, the CNESST found what it said were 76 “objectively serious violations” that violated the province’s Labor Standards Act, but added that those claims were inaccurate.

“We disagree with these findings of offense and will appeal them,” BRP spokeswoman Mélanie Montplaisir said in an emailed statement.

“We believe we have paid our employees from Mexico, expatriates here in Quebec, fairly and equitably to help our employees in Valcourt. We treated them with respect and dignity, just as we do our 23,000 employees around the world.”

The manufacturer behind Sea-Doo watercraft and Ski-Doo snowmobiles emphasized that the incidents in question involved alleged overtime and undermining of the minimum wage for 25 employees between December 2021 and November last year.

Ms. Montplaisir alleged that the company committed “certain administrative errors related to the processing of payroll between the Mexican and Canadian systems,” particularly with regard to overtime. She added that these workers would receive the amounts owed.

“Our opinion and that of the CNESST differ regarding the structure and methodology of our compensation model,” she clarified.

The CNESST is seeking $127,000 in sanctions from the Quebec company, which made a profit of $865.4 million in its fiscal year ended Jan. 31. She declined to comment on the matter, citing “ongoing litigation.”

In February, Radio-Canada reported that some of the approximately 200 Mexican workers from factories in Querétaro and Juárez who were temporarily working at BRP’s headquarters in Valcourt were subjected to unorthodox conditions.

According to Radio-Canada, the agreement included fees to cover expenses such as meals, lodging, transportation and “entertainment activities.” BRP also withheld hundreds of dollars a week from some employees and failed to pay mandatory 50% wage increases for overtime, depriving foreign workers of a total of about $1 million, the report said.

BRP assures that compensation for withheld overtime will be paid out.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press