Important Things to Know About Labor Laws for Immigrants

Some employers look for immigrants to hire. Their logic in this thinking is that these workers will work more cheaply then American citizens. Hiring these non citizens can be a tricky though. Then you have those who hire immigrants to do dangerous work that doesn’t provide adequate protection or training.

One of the bigger problems though is that a lot of companies have a tendency to overwork immigrant employees, in particular the ones who do not speak English very well. In actuality though, employers must treat immigrants the same way they would treat an American worker.

The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act was enacted to protect migrant farm workers. Some labor contractors and employees are exempt under limited circumstances. As an employee you are entitled to receive the terms and conditions of the jobs in their own language.

For migrant farm workers employers must provide housing for workers who meets the federal standards. The vehicle that is used to transport migrant workers must also be safe for the workers.

If you have a farm and would like to hire a migrant worker here are few points to consider.
You always want to make sure they are a U.S citizen. Make sure they have a green card. This is very important because without this they could get deported.

Check to see if the migrant has a family, if this is the case you would need to provide adequate housing and sanitation to the family members. It would be a good idea to if you got some type of insurance in case someone got hurt or the wife has a baby.

Just like anyone else that you would consider hiring do a background check on them. You may want to stay clear of hiring someone with a checkered past unless they have demonstrated a changed person.

Ulises Tarmet is a paralegal who has worked with many California Overtime Lawyers educating many clients about California Overtime Laws.