Foreign workers get help on laws

PROVO — Dora Martinez wants to help a friend who works 105 hours every two weeks but isn't paid overtime.

The 49-year-old Guatemala native says she now has a better understanding of workers' rights, thanks to a recent Community Law Help for Immigrants seminar. She now knows that most workers have the right to sue for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours a week — even if they're undocumented.

"Now I can teach them," Martinez said with a smile. "Many don't complain. They're very afraid of losing their jobs."

A series of monthly information sessions were created last fall by a group of law students at Brigham Young University. The next seminar, on education rights and issues, will be held on April 24.

The presentations, done in both English and Spanish, are delivered by attorneys who are also on hand for free one-on-one advice. Volunteers from BYU, Utah Valley State College, and — sometimes — the immigrant community also participate.

"We try to do as much as we can to help them craft solutions to their problems," BYU law student Matt Brown said of the nearly 24,000 immigrants living in Utah County, according to the 2000 Census. "We try to give them a voice."

Overtime was just one employment-related issue covered by attorney Yvette Donosso Diaz of the Salt Lake law firm Manning, Curtis, Bradshaw and Bednar LLC at a recent information session.

Diaz said in many cases, such as overtime and minimum wage, even undocumented workers have legal rights and a court can't ask a worker's legal status. If a worker wins a suit, it's also possible to collect legal fees, she said.

She also warned those attending the seminars that proposals such as President Bush's temporary worker visa program are not yet the law. She said some notaries prey on undocumented immigrants by claiming to be attorneys and offering to file documents under programs that aren't yet in effect.

Tony Yapias, director of the Utah Office of Hispanic Affairs, said there are few sources of pro bono legal help for immigrants in Utah, especially outside the Salt Lake Valley.

"This is a good way for law students to look at our community," he said. "There are people out there who do not have the legal resources to hire an attorney."

In Salt Lake City, there is a community law program at the University of Utah, and the Utah State Bar Association offers free legal advice on Tuesday nights.