Six hours before she collapsed from the heat in the South Florida tropical plant nursery where she works, Irma wasn’t feeling well.

By 10 a.m., two hours into her shift weeding long rows of plants on a hot August day, her head hurt and she felt nauseous. By 2 p.m. she had full body cramps and chills. At her boss’s urging, she pushed through the pain without a break until her body gave out at 4 p.m. Her vision went black and she fell to the ground.

Irma spoke on the condition that she be identified only by her first name for fear of retaliation from her employer. Her boss still won’t let her or her co-workers pause to rest on hot workdays, she said,aside from a half-hour break for lunch at noon.

“I’m bent over all day working,” she said. “If you stand up, the bosses ask, ‘Are you feeling

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