Thread: Temp Firm Specializes in Vetting Immigrants' Work Status

Job Security for Employers
Temp Firm Specializes in Vetting Immigrants' Work Status

By Krissah Williams
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 29, 2007; Page D01

Once, staffing agencies prided themselves on providing companies with fast typers who had cheery phone voices.

Today, against the backdrop of a recent flurry of federal workplace raids in search of illegal immigrants, a Bethesda staffing agency is finding more demand for a different kind of service -- providing local companies with temps who have bona fide work papers.

Members of MicroManos's office staff, most of whom are first- or second-generation Americans, scrutinize each potential laborer's work documents. At a client's request, they will vet the workers' documents through software linked to the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. They ask the workers directly whether they are in the country legally.

"When we take the initial employment application, we discuss eligibility to work in the U.S. right away, whether or not we have a job available," said Daniel A. Weiss, director of MicroManos, which means "small hands" in Spanish. "Recruiting immigrants and handling payroll for companies that have immigrants is our only focus, so we are twice as mindful of these issues than the typical human-resources generalist."

Identifying legal and illegal workers has become a major dilemma for several local industries, according to a study released last year by the Pew Hispanic Center. About 35 percent of the local construction workforce and 21 percent of the food service workforce are working illegally, the study says.

Employers say they are stuck in a hiring quandary. If they don't carefully study an immigrant's identification and work authorization, they could be raided and fined for hiring someone illegally. If they push workers too hard or refuse to hire foreigners, they could be accused of discrimination by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Human-resources managers representing thousands of small and large U.S. employers have complained that immigration law makes it too easy for illegal immigrants to subvert the system, leaving employers vulnerable to raids. HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce, which includes the National Association of Manufacturers and the Food Marketing Institute, has lobbied Congress to give employers access to fingerprint records so they can verify applicants' identities.

MicroManos was founded four years ago by Atsumasa Tochisako, a native of Japan who worked for 12 years in branches of Japanese banks in Latin America and is fluent in Spanish. He said employers would eventually consider it essential that workers be legal after seeing companies like Wal-Mart get caught up in illegal-immigrant scandals. Wal-Mart paid the federal government $11 million to settle allegations that it subcontracted with a cleaning company that employed illegal immigrants.

At first, MicroManos had a hard time attracting customers. "We found that some employers don't care about legal status," Tochisako said. "They are paying workers under the table."

One landscaper called MicroManos and asked for help replacing his firm's illegal workforce with a legal one, with no disruption in business. When MicroManos staffers explained how much the changeover would raise the landscaper's expenses because of the higher salaries, corporate taxes and other fees, the landscaper said, "no, thanks," Tochisako said.

But business has picked up considerably after the increase in federal workplace raids over the past year and, more recently, after the Department of Homeland Security's announcement that it planned to target employers who receive government letters that some of their workers' names and Social Security numbers do not match a federal database.

Last year, MicroManos placed 3,200 workers with local companies, including Marriott and Aramark, as dishwashers, janitors, movers and low-level construction workers.

The staffing firm usually signs a co-employment agreement with the workers it places. The temporary workers generally get $7 to $11 per hour, and after three months with MicroManos they are eligible for a benefit that covers half the cost of medical services. MicroManos charges employers $8.50 to $12 per hour for each worker it places. That's more than the $7 per hour employers would generally pay for those kinds of jobs.

MicroManos turns away 10 to 20 applicants each month because they can't provide documents showing they have legal authorization to work in the United States, said Mary Saba, the staffing firm's workforce manager. If she were to place an illegal worker, MicroManos and the primary employer would both be liable, she said.

MicroManos is still losing $5,000 a month, company officials said, but they estimated that they are close to breaking even this year. Meanwhile, Tochisako, who also owns a money-transfer business with outlets in the District and its suburbs, has continued to bankroll MicroManos, along with a grant from the Friedman Family Foundation in San Francisco, which supports social entrepreneurship.

Chris Settimo, an events manager at the Bethesda North Marriott, contracts with Saba to hire three or four workers a month who lug around tables and chairs to set up conference rooms. The workers are almost always immigrants, and he is happy to leave the hassle of verifying their work eligibility to the staffing agency.

"We take their for word for it," Settimo said. "It allows us to get by when the hiring process is slow or to cover when we are shorthanded."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01800.html

Originally Posted by controlledImmigration

At first, MicroManos had a hard time attracting customers. "We found that some employers don't care about legal status," Tochisako said. "They are paying workers under the table."

One landscaper called MicroManos and asked for help replacing his firm's illegal workforce with a legal one, with no disruption in business. When MicroManos staffers explained how much the changeover would raise the landscaper's expenses because of the higher salaries, corporate taxes and other fees, the landscaper said, "no, thanks," Tochisako said.

That's what employers really mean when they claim they can't find Americans to hire.

Small business laws should be revised,simplified because current small business laws are very complex and expensive.

I will have to say I can see the temptation to hire under the table simply because of the government hassle and expense.........

It's good to see this company's business picking up. I hope the trend continues. This is good news.