Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Labor will give the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the authority to issue special visa certificates to noncitizen workers at worksites where certain criminal activities are being investigated, the federal agency said in a Feb. 13 notice.
- Effective March 30, OSHA will be able to issue “U visas” and “T visas” during its workplace safety investigations if workers are victims of specific criminal activities, such as manslaughter, trafficking, extortion, felonious assault, forced labor and obstruction of justice, to allow them to assist law enforcement, DOL said. U nonimmigrant visas are granted to victims of qualifying criminal activities who have experienced physical or mental abuse, while T nonimmigrant visas are issued to victims of human trafficking.
- “Workers in the U.S. need to feel empowered and able to trust OSHA and the U.S. Department of Labor enough to voice their concerns about workplace safety regardless of their immigration status and fears of retaliation,” Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker said in the notice. “By enabling OSHA to issue U and T visa certifications, we will be empowering some of our economy’s most vulnerable workers to tell us if their jobs are jeopardizing their safety and health, and that of their co-workers, and to support our enforcement efforts.”
Dive Insight:
OSHA’s new authority is the latest in a series of federal actions intended to protect immigrant workers.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 13 announced a policy that grants “noncitizen workers who are victims of, or witnesses to, the violation of labor rights” case-by-case protection from “threats of immigration-related retaliation from the exploitative employers,” DHS said. Affected workers can request a deferral of deportation.
And in July 2022, DOL released guidelines that protect undocumented workers who file labor disputes from deportation.
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, a worker safety advocacy organization, said the new OSHA authority is “a step forward” for immigrant workers.
“Protecting workers who are witnesses to illegal workplace abuses not only means workers can be treated fairly, it also creates a level playing field for employers,” Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of National COSH, said in a news release. “Companies that provide a safe workplace, use above-board hiring and recruitment practices and pay workers what they are owed should not have to compete with those who break the law to gain an unfair advantage.”
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