Federal agencies

Labor Rights Week aims to raise awareness

Labor Rights Week 2016

Photo: U.S. Department of Labor

Washington – The Department of Labor is encouraging action during Labor Rights Week, an effort to raise awareness of worker and employer rights and responsibilities under U.S. labor laws. The event runs from Aug. 29 through Sept. 4.

DOL is partnering with advocacy groups, local unions, and faith-based and community organizations to host or sponsor workshops and special events nationwide.

An editor’s note to an Aug. 30 post on DOL’s blog states that 11 foreign embassies and their consulates, as well as other groups, are involved in activities such as educating workers on the right to have personal protective equipment, explaining how to seek out help if their rights have been violated, and providing information about minimum wage laws.

“Every person who works in the United States has the right to work in a safe workplace and receive fair compensation for their work,” Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez said in a video posted on a DOL webpage.

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