Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- The U.S. Department of Labor has launched a new initiative designed to reach out to Asian and Hispanic business communities about employee and employer rights and responsibilities. The new initiative, Operation COACH (Compliance Outreach to the Asian Community and Hispanics), began on Mon., Dec. 1 with new and small businesses and their employees in Jersey City.

Spearheaded by the Mountainside office of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, the COACH program will later expand to other Hudson County communities including: North Bergen, Union City, West New York and Guttenberg, before moving into Bergen and Passaic counties in the spring.

"This program is to reach employers and workers who don't traditionally think of government as a resource and to show them how we can help," says Joseph Petrecca, district director of the Mountainside Wage and Hour office. "We want to educate employers about what we do and to offer them guidance about how to comply with labor law requirements, including child labor, minimum wage and overtime. We also want to let workers know that we are here and ready to assist them as well."

"Compliance assistance for employers and workers is an initiative started by Secretary Elaine L. Chao. This is a new way of doing business, where government goes directly to the people in an effort to better serve and protect," said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Corlis Sellers. "We hope that by having face-to-face visits in the respective communities, we can inform employers and workers about labor laws and requirements."

New Jersey has the fifth largest Asian-American population and the sixth-largest Hispanic population in the United States. Jersey City is home to a significant and growing Indian population and contains the state's largest concentration of Filipinos. Palisades Park in Bergen County is home to the state's largest concentration of Asian Americans, most of which are Korean. *

For more information on the COACH program, contact the Mountainside office, at (973) 645-2279.For more information about the laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the 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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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.