Wage and Hour Division

The Wage and Hour Division is a division of the United States Department of Labor that is responsible for enforcing labor laws, including those related to human trafficking. The division works to investigate and prosecute cases of labor trafficking, particularly those involving the exploitation of vulnerable workers such as migrant workers or domestic workers. The division also provides outreach and education to workers and employers to help prevent labor trafficking and ensure compliance with labor laws.

 

In Minnesota, a New Model Challenges the Widespread Mistreatment of Construction Workers
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In Minnesota, a New Model Challenges the Widespread Mistreatment of Construction Workers

The campaign’s roots go back to 2016, when the worker’s center, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en La Lucha (CTUL), worked with SEIU, the nation’s second largest union, to organize 600 Target and Macy’s janitors in the Twin Cities, says Burt Johnson, general counsel for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters.  He was impressed…

Feds Open Probe into Biden’s Handling of Migrant Kids Being Labor Trafficked
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Feds Open Probe into Biden’s Handling of Migrant Kids Being Labor Trafficked

A federal watchdog has opened an investigation into how President Joe Biden’s Labor Department has handled a surge of migrant children being labor trafficked after having been released into the United States interior from the southern border. As Breitbart News has reported for months, Biden’s Labor Department, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of…

Dispute between a Utah farmer and farmworkers triggers probe into fraud and human trafficking
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Dispute between a Utah farmer and farmworkers triggers probe into fraud and human trafficking

Authorities are investigating the former president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation over allegations of fraud and human trafficking following an altercation that left one of his farmworkers in need of medical care, the Utah Department of Public Safety confirmed to NBC News. The probe comes as Ron Bennett Gibson, 50, resigned Tuesday from Utah’s…

U.S. House Democrats push for congressional hearing on child labor violations – Wisconsin Examiner
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U.S. House Democrats push for congressional hearing on child labor violations – Wisconsin Examiner

WASHINGTON — Top Democrats on the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee are urging Republican Chair Virginia Foxx of North Carolina to hold a hearing this month on the uptick in child labor violations. Democratic Reps. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the ranking member of the committee, and Alma Adams of North Carolina, the ranking member…

Parents helped get 14-year-old daughter a night job cleaning at beef plant
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Parents helped get 14-year-old daughter a night job cleaning at beef plant

Child labor in the meatpacking industry has been getting a lot of attention, but what role, if any, have the parents played? A Nebraska county court case is providing answers from one family, and it’s not pretty. The mother of a 14-year-old girl, who worked the night shift at JBS Grand Island doing sanitation work,…

Americans thought child labor was a travesty ‘over there.’ That myth has been shattered.
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Americans thought child labor was a travesty ‘over there.’ That myth has been shattered.

Child labor in palm oil industry in Southeast Asia tied to Girl Scout cookies In India, I have squatted with kids on towering heaps of smelly trash, helping as they picked through rubbish for the tiny items they think they can sell or use. In Congo, I have knelt at the 2-foot openings of unstable…

Feds Crack Down on Illegal Child Labor: What You Need to Know – JD Supra
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Feds Crack Down on Illegal Child Labor: What You Need to Know – JD Supra

The Biden Administration recently announced a new initiative to investigate and enforce violations of child labor laws. Significantly, the crackdown will include more aggressive investigations of and accountability for companies benefiting from illegal child labor, even if those companies do not employ the children directly. The federal child labor laws, which were authorized by the…

Child labor law reductions might become Iowa's solution to labor shortages
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Child labor law reductions might become Iowa's solution to labor shortages

Child labor bills in Iowa might grease the skids for human trafficking but that’s not apparently a concern for sponsors. The approach for changes in child labor in Iowa is to allow employment by those who are underage in prohibited jobs so long as the employment is part of a training program. Children under the…

‘A lot of abuse for little pay’: how US farming profits from exploitation and brutality
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‘A lot of abuse for little pay’: how US farming profits from exploitation and brutality

Two dozen conspirators forced workers to pay fees for travel and housing while forcing them to work for little to no pay. In June, a farm worker from Mexico, who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, was transported through a trafficking network from Monterey to work on farms in Georgia. They paid the…

Another guilty of trafficking women in cantina backroom – Department of Justice
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Another guilty of trafficking women in cantina backroom – Department of Justice

HOUSTON – A 30-year-old man who resided in Houston has pleaded guilty to several sex trafficking crimes and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Edgar Botello admitted to sex trafficking with force, fraud or coercion and conspiracy to do so as well as possession of child pornography. “Sex traffickers prey on…