I’ve seen firsthand how the department’s partnerships with the consulates of other countries can make a real difference in workers’ lives.
Looking back over my 37-year history with the department’s Wage and Hour Division, I often reflect on one worker from Mexico who lost his job in construction for speaking to one of our investigators. We knew he was due back pay for wrongful termination, but we didn’t know where to find him. We worked with the Mexican consulate, which told us he was unhoused and living in a makeshift tent under a bridge. Thanks to the consulate’s help, our investigators found him and handed him the check for his back wages. He used the money he was owed to rent a room, buy a new suit and ultimately secure a new job.
The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that workers across the country know their rights, regardless of where they are from. We strive to develop and maintain relationships with trusted partners, including foreign consulates, so that migrant and immigrant workers know they can contact us for help. And we train consular officers on U.S. labor laws so they can help workers who feel more comfortable turning to their countries’ consulates for assistance.
Our work with the consulates to reach workers is as critical as ever. Recently, a federal court found that a farm labor contractor repeatedly underpaid workers, violated requirements in the H-2A agricultural work program and made false statements. The court ordered the contractor to pay more than $1 million in back wages and damages to its workers. Right now, we are working with Mexican consular officials in California to identify affected workers who are still in the U.S. or have returned to Mexico so they can get the wages that they’re owed.
Stories like these are why we have a Consular Partnership Program.
Under the program, the U.S. Department of Labor has for 20 years partnered with the embassies and consulates of countries including Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic to make sure workers from those countries have the information and help they need to realize their rights – to a minimum wage, overtime pay and workplace safety protections – while working in the United States.
Once an embassy signs a partnership agreement with us, our enforcement agencies train consular officers on U.S. laws, regulations and confidential complaint-filing processes. Our field offices then collaborate with nearby consulates to sponsor outreach and information events for workers, unions, employers, and faith and community-based organizations throughout the year.
Across the department, we are working with consulates to ensure that immigrant and migrant workers in the U.S. receive their hard-earned wages, can take job-protected leave from work, have safe and healthy workplaces, and more. Together, we’ll continue to build bridges to the workers who need us the most. Learn more about the Consular Partnership Program and find resources for workers at MigrantWorker.gov.
Priscilla Garcia-Ocampo is deputy director of enforcement for the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, Western Region. Follow the Wage and Hour Division on X at @WHD_DOL and on LinkedIn.
