Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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McALLEN, Texas -- The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and the Consulado de Mexico in McAllen, Texas, signed an agreement under which the agencies will combine resources to educate and inform Mexican employees about labor-law protections in the United States.

A signing ceremony was held today at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.

“We welcome this opportunity to join with the Consulado de Mexico,” said Cynthia Watson, regional administrator for Wage and Hour’s Southwest region. “Through our collaborative efforts, we hope to educate workers on their rights and assure them that they are fully protected under the statutes enforced by the WHD.”

Under the alliance agreement, WHD will train Consulado de Mexico staff to assure they have a working knowledge of statutes enforced by WHD, including requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its youth employment provisions, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Protection Act, the field sanitation standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the H-2A program under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

WHD will also provide compliance information to constituents of the Consulado General de Mexico on relevant topics, such as minimum-wage requirements, overtime provisions, youth employment standards, farm-labor contracting, field sanitation and migrant-labor housing.

The Consulado de Mexico will act as a liaison between WHD and Mexican citizens who work in the counties of Brooks, Hidalgo and Starr, Texas, and will jointly participate in activities to provide information to their constituents.

For more information on compliance assistance or labor laws, such as the FLSA or the Family and Medical Leave Act, call the Wage and Hour San Antonio district office at (210) 308-4515 or the DOL’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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