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Day Laborer Act In
2005, the Center worked with the Coalition to End Homelessness to
persuade the state to enact the Day Laborer Act (codified at 50-15-1
NMSA 1978). Day laborers are people
who provide manual labor—often in construction or landscaping—on a
short-term basis for low wages. They are very poor, often
homeless, and many of them are veterans or immigrants. The Day Laborer Act provides some protections for day
laborers from abuses by employers. It requires that day labor service
agencies pay workers for all work performed, post various signage
informing workers of their rights in languages they can understand,
give workers itemized accountings of any deduction from wages, and not
restrict a worker from taking a permanent position. Additionally,
the Act limits the amount that an employer can charge for cashing a
check to $2.00 and the worker must be given the option to cash their
check at a bank free of charge. In June of 2006, the Center
followed up with the Department of Labor to learn how well the Act was
working. We found that the law was not being enforced at all; in
fact, no regulations had even been promulgated. Center staff called on the Department
of Labor to begin implementing the Act immediately. Then, we
pitched in to help. We researched regulations for similar laws in
other states and used the best examples of these to draft regulations,
procedures and complaint forms for However, despite our efforts and the regulations for this Act being ordered in November 2006 by the Labor and Industrial Division of the NM Department of Workforce Solutions (the new name of the Department of Labor), the regulations still have not been finalized. We are currently in the final round of negotiations with the Department to promulgate the regulations, and continue to work closely with them, along with the NM Coalition to End Homelessness, to ensure proper enforcement of the Act.
KNOW YOUR
RIGHTS!
SEPAN SUS DERECHOS!
Resources for filing complaints and agencies that can help: |