New York, NY —

The Department of Labor is using immigrant groups and labor unions to educate workers and employers about state labor laws. Alex Lazaro from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union says his group will cover the lower and upper east side as well as Harlem:

LAZARO: I'm going to be giving out this literature to employers so let them know what their obligations are and also talk to workers that they have laws that protects them.

Recently Lazaro's union reported the Amish Market to the Department of Labor, which in February ordered the gourmet food chain to pay $1.5 million in overtime pay for workers.

Volunteer Gonzalo Mercado from the Staten Island group, Centro del Inmigrante, says he was trained to do several things.

MERCADO: How can we file claims, how can we help businesses that have questions, how can we identify businesses who are doing violations, but mainly our main message is just to bring information so everybody knows what the law is.

Mercado says immigrants often don't realize employers should be paying time and half for work beyond 40 hours a week.

The Department of Labor says the so called "Wage and Hour Watch Program" will also help law abiding employers who struggle to compete with businesses flouting the law.