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Employers are responsible for clear communication with their employees, particularly regarding wage agreements and safety in the workplace. Unfortunately, U.S. companies have taken advantage of the vulnerabilities of the immigrant workforce. This article details how the U.S. Department of Labor is identifying employers who ignore safety standards and cheat their employees out of fair pay.

The U.S. Department of Labor is bearing down on employers who ignore safety standards and cheat “vulnerable workers” out of their wages, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said Friday in Scottsdale.Chao, addressing more than 200 members of the National Association of Hispanic Publications at the Hilton Scottsdale Resort, said her department has recovered millions in unpaid wages and has reduced worker deaths.The secretary painted a rosy picture of the economy but warned of the “skills gap” that leaves higher-paid jobs unfilled nationwide.

Secretary of Labor since 2001, Chao has reached out to the Hispanic community with training and enforcement programs.

She has stationed 300 bilingual inspectors across the nation to help Hispanics collect promised wages and demand safe working conditions, an enduring theme in much of the Hispanic press.

Since 2001, Chao said, her department’s aggressive enforcement has reduced workplace fatalities by 7 percent.