U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division Signs Agreements With Puerto Rico Agencies to Share Information and Resources

SAN JUAN, PR – The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has signed agreements with the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources, Labor Standards Division (PR-LSD), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (OCPR) to establish collaborative relationships to promote compliance with laws where the agencies have common interests.

The partnerships' goals include providing clear, accurate, and easy-to-access compliance outreach to employers, employees, and other stakeholders; conducting coordinated investigations; sharing information consistent with applicable laws; and sharing resources, such as cross-training investigators.

"Since Hurricane Maria, the WHD Caribbean District Office has seen a significant increase in construction and debris removal activities with many newly formed companies undertaking contracts funded privately and under federal contract," said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Mark Watson, Jr. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "These partnerships are crucial to making the best use of government resources to ensure protection and compliance."

WHD Northeast Regional Administrator Mark Watson, Jr., Puerto Rico Secretary of Labor and Human Resources Mr. Carlos J. Saavedra Gutierrez, and Puerto Rico Comptroller Yesmin M. Valdivieso recently signed the partnership agreements.

WHD enforces the federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. It also enforces the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, and the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the Service Contract Act, among other statutes.

Read this news release En Español