Stephanie Ramirez says she worked 15-hour shifts and drank up to three Monster Energy drinks a day to keep herself going. Until one day, her body gave out and she collapsed on the job.

Ramirez is a Guatemalan farm worker whose story Canadians might not ordinarily hear. But CBC News has learned she is one of five workers who were collectively awarded nearly $80,000 in a B.C. Employment Standards Branch decision involving a Fraser Valley employer.

Yet when the federal department that oversees the t…