You Don't Have to Reinvent the Wheel: A Comparison of Wage and Hour Laws, Their Effects on the Latino Family, and What We Can Learn from Them

Authors

Brenda Valle

Abstract

Latinos have become the fastest growing minority population in the United States. As a result, the United States has seen a surfacing of issues that have had a unique impact on the Latino population. One issue that has specifically affected Latinos is the weakness in wage and hour laws, both at the federal and state level. Because Latinos as a group are primarily concentrated in low-wage sectors, wage and hour laws have a greater impact on Latinos than any other group. Furthermore, the negative impact wage and hour laws have does not stop with the low-wage worker but extends to the Latino family. The purpose of this note is to provide states with the fastest growing Latino populations a patchwork of laws that would serve to better protect low-wage workers. As the Latino population continues expanding into new geographical areas, particularly into Southern states, it is imperative that these states revise their wage and hour laws to prevent the negative impact that low-wages and wage violations have had on the Latino worker and their families.

Recommended Citation

Brenda Valle, You Don't Have to Reinvent the Wheel: A Comparison of Wage and Hour Laws, Their Effects on the Latino Family, and What We Can Learn from Them, 8 Hastings Race & Poverty L.J. 137 (2011).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_race_poverty_law_journal/vol8/iss2/4