J-1 Summer Work and Travel Workplace Rights: Pay, Safety, Discrimination and Who to Call

A J-1 job is a real US job, and US labor protections apply to it. The State Department’s Wilberforce pamphlet on temporary workers’ rights was last updated October 9, 2025. This page puts its points together with OSHA, Wage and Hour Division and EEOC guidance. The jobs hub has the pages on finding and changing work.

The short version

1. Know that US labor protections apply to your J-1 job.
2. Ask your employer for safety training and equipment.
3. Report problems without fear, because the law bars punishment for speaking up.
4. Call the Wage and Hour Division if your pay is wrong.
5. Call the J-Visa Emergency Hotline for an urgent health, safety or welfare problem.

Are J-1 visa holders allowed to work?

A J-1 holder is allowed to do the activity listed on the DS-2019 and as stated in the regulations for the category. The DS-2019 shows your program dates, category, sponsor and location. For Summer Work Travel, your sponsor must confirm each initial, replacement and additional job before you start. The rules and the job vetting page explain what that check covers.

Working for an employer other than the sponsor needs approval from the sponsor’s responsible or alternate responsible officer.

Your core rights at a J-1 job

The Wilberforce pamphlet lists these rights: to be paid fairly, to work in a healthy and safe workplace, to ask for help from union, immigrant and labor rights groups, to leave an unsafe job, and to be free from discrimination, harassment and exploitation. These apply whatever your immigration status. Your employer cannot fire you, mistreat you or refuse to pay you for exercising them.

If you do not speak English well, you can ask for an interpreter. You can read the pamphlet on the State Department site.

Pay rights

Your employer must pay you for all work you do. Federal law sets a minimum of $7.25 per hour for covered nonexempt workers. A higher state, city or county minimum wage takes over where one exists. Under the program rules, participants must be paid at least the higher of the federal, state or local minimum wage, or comparable US pay.

• Over 40 hours a week, your employer may need to pay 1.5 times your regular pay for the extra hours.
• Your pay stub must show each deduction.
• Your employer usually cannot take uniforms, safety equipment, tools or recruitment fees out of your pay or make you pay them.
• Employers must display a poster on the federal wage law and keep time and pay records.

If your pay looks wrong, pay and wages walks through minimum wage by state and overtime. Wage questions go to 1-866-487-9243, and the Wage and Hour Division explains how to file a complaint.

Safety and injury rights

Your employer must keep the workplace healthy and safe. Federal law gives you the right to a safe place to work, and your employer must keep it free from known hazards (OSHA worker rights). You can report safety concerns without being punished.

You also have the right to:

• Training on job hazards and safety rules, in a language you understand.
• Required safety equipment, such as gloves or a harness for falls.
• Request an OSHA inspection and speak to the inspector.
• Refuse to work in a situation that would expose you to a hazard.
• Report an injury or illness and get copies of your medical records from your employer.

Covered employers must protect you from extreme temperature and should have a program to prevent heat illness. You have the right to clean drinking water free of charge. If your employer provides housing, it should be clean and safe, and you must be free to leave it.

If you are hurt or sick from work, your employer should pay for your medical care and some of your lost wages. You can see a doctor or nurse on your own. In most cases you can file for workers’ compensation in the state where you work. Sponsors must verify the employer’s workers’ compensation coverage in that state before a job is approved. The health and safety page covers care and emergencies.

Discrimination and harassment

Your employer cannot treat you badly because of your age (if you are 40 or older), sex, race, national origin, color, religion, genetic information or disability. EEOC laws also cover pregnancy, sexual orientation and transgender status. The law forbids discrimination in every aspect of employment. No one can verbally, physically or sexually harass you.

To act on it, you file a charge, a charge is a signed statement that an organization engaged in employment discrimination. The time limits are strict. The usual 180-day deadline becomes 300 days where a state or local agency enforces a similar law. Start with an inquiry through the EEOC Public Portal. If your deadline is close, call 1-800-669-4000 for an immediate interview. A charge over your citizenship status is filed at justice.gov/crt/filing-charge.

Speaking up without being punished

Retaliation is barred under each of these systems:

• Wages: employers cannot retaliate for asking about pay, hours or rights, filing a complaint or cooperating with a Wage and Hour investigation. Many investigations start from complaints, which are confidential.
• Safety: it is illegal to fire, demote or transfer a worker for complaining to OSHA. File a whistleblower complaint within 30 days of the retaliation.
• Discrimination: it is illegal to retaliate against someone who complained about discrimination or took part in an investigation.

When you raise a safety problem, OSHA suggests telling your employer first if you can. The pamphlet adds that it helps to bring a coworker as a witness and to put your concerns in writing by text or email. You can also join coworkers to ask for better wages or conditions, and form, join or support a union.

Who to call

The Wage and Hour Division routes your call to the nearest office. The trafficking hotline has specialists in more than 200 languages. You can also text HELP to 233733. It is not run by the government or law enforcement.

Signs of labor abuse include stopping you from leaving work or housing, threatening you with deportation if you ask for help, and keeping your passport or ID documents. No one should keep your passport, visa or ID documents from you. Programs exist to protect people who report abuse, so immigration worries should not stop you from asking for help.

What your sponsor must do for you

Before you leave home, it must give you the State Department’s help line number and its own 24/7 contact number. Sponsors must keep at least monthly contact with you and promptly address health, safety and welfare issues found in those contacts. They must assist participants as needed and act as facilitators, counselors and information resources.

Sponsors must help prepare you for your stay, with topics such as employee rights and laws, including workers’ compensation. Your sponsor must also make sure you have medical, repatriation and evacuation insurance coverage, though it does not need to pay for it. Employers must contact the sponsor immediately in an emergency or a situation that affects your health, safety or welfare.

If the job itself is the problem

You do not have to stay in a job where you are mistreated or unsafe. The pamphlet covers temporary workers in general, and it warns that immigration status will no longer be valid if you leave your employer, though you may be able to change status or work for a new employer who sponsors you. Sponsors must offer reasonable help to anyone wishing to change jobs. You may not start a new job until your sponsor has verified and vetted it. Changing jobs walks through the steps.

The grace period does not extend your right to work. It lasts 30 days after the program, and participants may not work during it.