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Workers On Leave Over Soc. Sec.Mismatches
AP

Nov. 14 - Seven workers at a San Jose manufacturing plant were placed on unpaid leave in what could be the first example of a U.S. company following a pending homeland security proposal to prevent the employment of illegal immigrants.

Cintas, a Cincinnati-based uniform maker with 30,000 employees in five states, said the workers were taken off the job Monday after they failed to furnish valid Social Security numbers, which are usually needed to prove eligibility to work in the United States.

The seven workers had been given two months to verify their status after the company received a letter from the federal government saying the workers' names didn't match the numbers they submitted to the company, according to Mike Wallner, a Cintas spokesman.

"We believe Cintas has a very generous policy," Wallner said. "All the employees have to do is work out the discrepancies with the Social Security Administration."

Cintas has notified dozens of other employees at the company's four Bay Area plants asking them to clear up similar mismatches, several workers said. The employees are confused and fear losing their jobs, said Adilene Sandoval, who works in the company's South San Francisco plant and has received one of the warnings.

"I have nothing to fix -- this is my name, this is my number," said Sandoval, who has worked for Cintas for more than five years and did not want to comment on her immigration status. "It doesn't seem fair to me that after so much time, they'll ask these questions."

Immigrant activists and labor organizers said the company was acting in accordance with an as-yet unapproved rule published in June by the Department of Homeland Security. The proposal would give companies 63 days to solve Social Security mismatches or risk being held liable for knowingly employing immigrants without proper work documents.

A statement Cintas officials distributed at one of the California plants in September explained the proposed guidelines and said the federal government had given the company a list of employees it would affect.

"These guidelines were proposed by the Department of Homeland Security, and would be enforced by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and are not intended to discriminate against anyone," the statement said.

The rule, "Safe Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter," outlines steps an employer should take once the company is warned there's a question about the validity of employees' Social Security numbers.

The Social Security Administration advises employers in the letters themselves that a mismatch does not prove by itself that a worker is an illegal immigrant.

The regulation was opposed in its current form by several federal agencies, business groups and local officials, including the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, the city of San Francisco and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Opponents argued the rule's two-month deadline for clearing up discrepancies was not enough time and that requiring employers to take action might lead to discrimination based on national origin.

Last week, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, wrote Cintas CEO Scott Farmer to say the company's policy toward Social Security conflicts "appears to be a rash enactment of a proposed DHS regulation" that may never become law.

But company officials said they're only trying to follow government guidelines as best they can.

"Cintas has an obligation to make sure all employees are authorized to legally work in the United States," Wallner said.