Mexican citizens get labor law primer

SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Department of Labor will visit the Mexican Consulate's local office each month to explain to workers that wages and overtime are the law — regardless of legal status.

The U.S. Labor Department Wage and Hour Division has a new campaign called "We Can Help." Monday, a Wage and Hour investigator was at the consulate distributing information to Mexican citizens who live in Utah and Idaho and need documents and services from Mexico, such as passports or to get married by a civil judge.

"We want to educate them on what the laws are and what their rights are," said Lee Ann Dunbar, Wage and Hour district director. "It gives them an opportunity to approach us if they have complaints, if they have questions about labor laws. What we're finding is sometimes that community is reluctant to come to our office to file a complaint."

For four hours Monday morning, a handful of people took small spiral-bound books that, in Spanish, explained child labor laws, that the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and that workers have a right to earn time-and-a-half after working 40 hours a week. During a two-hour period observed by the Deseret News, no one had a complaint and no one who spoke to a reporter had experienced being treated illegally by employers.

But Mexican Consulate representative Teresa Salazar believes there are plenty of cases out there.

"People come to the U.S. trying to get better lives for their families," she said. "They take any work that they can pick up."

The instances of day laborers, especially, not receiving pay are on the rise, Salazar said. She believes the recession may be to blame. Employers may not have the cash they once did to pay workers, and may take advantage of the workers' illegal status by threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement to get them deported if they complain.

Dunbar, the Wage and Hour district director, said that during economic downturns, violations can increase, "but you have employees who are more reluctant to come forth because they can lose their jobs."

The labor investigator at the consulate on Monday, Bruce Larsen, said paying in cash isn't necessarily illegal if taxes are paid and workers' time is accounted for.

"We have the ability to go back two years and collect back pay or overtime wages," he said.

e-mail: lhancock@desnews.com

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