Globalizing U.S. Employment Statutes Through Foreign Law Influence: Mexico's Foreign Employer Provision and Recruited Mexican Workers

Abstract

This article examines whether a provision of Mexican labor law may influence two U.S. employment law statutes, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (AWPA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), in some circumstances. It draws from domestic case law and recent scholarship to demonstrate a pathway for the "incorporation of" foreign law requirements into a U.S. employment statute (AWPA) and the "use of" foreign law to aid the interpretation of a U.S. employment statute (FLSA). This examination of the potential for foreign law influence on U.S. employment law brings an under-explored area of inquiry to the growing literature on the scope of foreign workers' rights in the United States. It also contributes to our understanding of U.S. employment law's responsiveness to a globalizing context.