Immigration

HR law: All eyes on the Supreme Court

06/26/2012

The center of the HR universe is in Washington, D.C., this week, as the U.S. Supreme Court issues a key decision affecting hiring of undocumented workers and announces it will hear an important case concerning supervisor harassment in its next term. Oh yeah, and then there’s that health care reform case, which should be decided Thursday.

Feds consider revisions to I-9 verification form

06/07/2012

That infamous I-9 employment verification form you must complete for each new employee may be going through some changes soon. The USCIS recently published a draft of revisions to the I-9 form and requested public comment on the proposed changes.

New guidance: Are you ready for an I-9 audit

05/12/2012

Are your I-9s in order? More and more employers are finding themselves under scrutiny from inspectors from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Employers now have a new tool to help them stay on the right side of the law.

Foreign-born worker sues? Know difference between national origin and immigration status

03/29/2012

While it is illegal to discriminate against an individual based on his or her national origin, that doesn’t mean that discrimination against someone based on her immigration status is forbidden. That’s because immigration status isn’t tied to a particular national origin.

ICE cools down S.D. eatery that hired undocumented workers

01/20/2012

A San Diego restaurant and catering company’s nine-year history of hiring undocumented workers came to an end in late 2011 when the owner pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Immigration status irrelevant to FLSA and state wage claims

01/05/2012

A federal court hearing a Fair Labor Standards Act case has ruled that an employee’s immigration status is irrelevant and can’t be mentioned to the jury.

ICE reports record number of I-9 audits, employer arrests

12/08/2011

This was not the year to get sloppy with your I-9 forms. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a record 2,393 audit notices to inspect employers’ I-9s this year, a more than 375% increase from audits in 2008.

Will hiring aliens cost PA businesses their licenses?

10/27/2011

Pennsylvanians who knowingly hire illegal immigrants would lose their professional licenses under a bill being considered by the Pennsylvania Legislature. The “one-strike-and-you’re-out” law would yank licenses for first-offense violations.

Feds expand E-Verify ‘Self-Check’ to 16 more states

10/06/2011

Until recently, the E-Verify Self-Check online system was available in only five states. Now the Department of Homeland Security has made it available to people in 16 more states.

Immigrant status counts in failure-to-hire cases

09/16/2011

It’s illegal for employers to use employees’ undocumented status as an excuse to avoid paying the minimum wage and overtime. But that’s not true in failure-to-hire cases—because if an applicant isn’t authorized to work, the employer couldn’t hire the worker at all.