Thread: Employers face tougher fines for immigration violations

Employers face tougher fines for immigration violations
1 hour, 52 minutes ago



Local companies need to be extra vigilant in policing their work force now as the federal government recently increased the fines for violating immigration law.


The Department of Homeland Security also is proposing stricter requirements for employers who file data with the Social Security Administration that contains discrepancies.


In regulations that became effective last week, companies who knowingly employ an unauthorized alien will be penalized $375 for a first-time offense, an increase of $100.


The maximum amount a company can be penalized for first-time violations also increased from $2,200 to $3,200.


The maximum fine for multiple violations rose as well from $11,000 to $16,000. It's the first increase since 1999.


"It's really part of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's goal to keep the pressure on," said Chris Hoffman, a labor and employment attorney in the San Diego office of Fisher & Phillips. "He's been quoted as saying it's one way to make it less appealing to break the law."


The Department of Homeland Security also is trying to pass new guidelines for "no match" letters, the communication companies receive when a Social Security number they've submitted doesn't match the information with the Social Security Administration.


"I find it convenient that these (fine) increases have been implemented along with the Department of Homeland Security's rules for how employers should respond to 'no match' letters," said Tamara Keller, a labor and employment attorney for San Diego's Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP.


"The fines haven't been increased since 1999, and to increase them now -- in the midst of the chaos of this regulation from DHS -- I think is a call to employers to show the federal government is getting serious."


The new proposal, according to Hoffman, would put "extreme requirements on employers who receive these letters."


According to the proposed plan, once notified, companies would have a total of 93 days to correct the mistake, terminate the employee at issue or face the penalties for knowingly employing an unauthorized alien.


Upon receiving the letter, the company would have 30 days to check its records before approaching the employee in question. The employee would then have 60 days to correct the issue by dealing with the Social Security Administration directly.


If, after 90 days, the issue hasn't been resolved, the employee has three days to fill out another I-9 form.


"I think it is difficult for employers to meet the timeline, when you consider the bureaucracy that the employee at issue will have to deal with if there is a mistake," Keller said.


The regulations were legally challenged shortly after they were published in August 2007. A judge granted a preliminary injunction, barring the rules from being enforced just before they were scheduled to go into effect in November.


In response last month, the federal government issued supplemental rules, which are undergoing a 30-day public-comment period.


Hoffman and Keller said the supplemental rules don't change the substance of what Homeland Security originally proposed, but simply include more justification for them.


The proposed rules would increase the chances of legally employed Americans being laid off because of a clerical error, Hoffman said.

"It's possible to misreport Social Security numbers for a whole variety of reasons -- a transcription error or a name change when someone gets married," he said.

Keller said the rules also could put companies at risk of unfair termination litigation if they fire an employee as a result of receiving a "no match" letter.

"This is part of an ongoing process by DHS to step up the pain if people aren't paying attention," Hoffman said. "Their goal is to ensure people are getting their house in order as quickly as possible."

Both Keller and Hoffman recommended employers monitor their payrolls internally and very closely.

"Self-audits can be very powerful in demonstrating an employer is doing its best to follow the immigration laws of the country," Hoffman said. "I think it's very common for innocent mistakes to exist. If you correct them through a self-audit, it reduces the risk of penalty later."


http://news.yahoo.com

little known fact and very little or no enforcement of social security number violation-an employee knowing hiring 5 or more employees with flse social security numbers face up to 250,000 fine and 10 to 15 years in jail-since Everify is available an has been in various forms since 1996- there is no excuse for employer to have anyone with fake numbers-recently last january a company in reidsville nc was bought out by an ohio company-the new owner found out in less than a month(some had been there for years)that 60 employers out of about 88 were using fake documents,false ss#,etc-they were all fired