Thread: Labor & Business Groups Opposes Bill

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Labor and business groups oppose bill
By KATHY MCCORMACK
The Associated Press
2 hours, 47 minutes ago

Concord – Representatives of labor and business groups picked apart a bill yesterday that requires employers to tell the state if they hire aliens and face up to $2,500 a day in fines if they don’t comply with labor laws, including knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

The intent of the bill, which was introduced and passed in the Senate, is to penalize employers who take advantage of undocumented workers by paying them lower wages and denying them benefits, such as health care, said Senate Majority Leader Robert Clegg, R-Hudson.

But labor and business leaders, testifying at a House committee hearing, questioned the need for the legislation when state law already mentions a $1,000 fine per day for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

Plus, they said, the bill could hurt employers and workers alike. It would require employers to try to verify if a worker is an alien — something they say they aren’t equipped to do — and it would result in workplace discrimination, they said.

“We don’t have the ability to ask people, ‘Are you an alien?’ said John Young, executive director of the New England Apple Council. “It’s discrimination abuse and it’s punishable by law.”

Jordan Ulery, R-Hudson, a member of the House Criminal Justice Public Safety Committee and prime sponsor of a number of immigration-related bills in the House — most of which have failed — said the bill doesn’t mention anything about having to verify an employee’s documents. Young said if an employer is eligible for a $2,500 fine, then that employer would be held accountable for proving verification.

Ulery noted the bill says that if an employer files a statement with the state Labor Department on alien-employee status and has made a “good faith effort” to comply with the law, then the employer shall not be liable for fines.

But those testifying against the bill said the term, “good faith effort” wasn’t clearly defined. Neither was “alien” or other language, for that matter.

The bill basically makes employers “nervous about hiring legal aliens,” testified Randall Drew, an immigration lawyer.

By definition, just about anyone who hires someone for any type of job would have to file a statement with the state on whether they hire aliens, testified David Juvet, vice president of the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association.

“If you have the boy next door rake your lawn this fall,” you would have to file a statement, Juvet said.

The bill, which is supposed to protect undocumented workers, would have the opposite effect, said Judy Elliott, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health. Businesses would be open to surprise inspections and if undocumented workers are discovered, they would be reported to immigration authorities, according to the bill.

►Illegal workers have

It's called, law enforcement, get used to it.

ain't that too bad . . .

BOOHOOHOO too bad so sad. Get use to it or get use to a lighter purse.

“We don’t have the ability to ask people, ‘Are you an alien?’ said John Young, executive director of the New England Apple Council. “It’s discrimination abuse and it’s punishable by law.”

What nonsense, you ask a persons alien status every time you take down their social security number, which by the way, an employer is REQUIRED to determine whether that number is lawful, not the person.

These people are grasping at straws, don't try to convince them. Just DEFEAT them, and then steamroll with the law.