Monday, December 5, 2016

Food for Thought – HR 4 - Legal Pitfalls of Hiring Undocumented Workers



Food for Thought – HR 4

Legal Pitfalls of Hiring Undocumented Workers


The job interview is an interesting process.  It’s kind of a simultaneous dual sales-pitch.  The company wants to sell itself, and the applicant wants to sell him, or herself for the position.
It can be challenging to find a qualified candidate who is a good fit, and can bring value to the company, but…is the person authorized to work in the US?

The major draw for illegal immigrants to come to the U.S. is a job.  Companies looking to capitalize on cheap labor, while bypassing the law, only help to propagate illegal immigration, and keeps more US workers out of the job market. So…the premise of the law is that by eliminating the hiring of illegal workers, it will reduce the desire to disregard laws of legal entry.  If there is no job waiting for them, why risk the trip?  In theory, it works great…as long as everyone obeys the law.


Since 1986, every US employer has been required to verify the authorization of each new person hired, at the time they are hired, and to maintain those records.  The I-9 form can be located at the USCIS website – www.uscis.gov/forms.  There is also a handbook available for download that details the instructions for filling out the form, in addition to the legal obligations of the employer.
The instruction handbook can be accessed here - https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/m-274.pdf

In another article from NOLO.com, Deborah Dyson talks about some of the legal pitfalls of hiring undocumented workers, that every hiring manager, business owner should know.

In future posts, we’ll discuss what the laws state, and relate the consequences of not following the law.

D. Conley

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