The QuickChecker

Ask Yourself - Can Your Company Pass an Audit?

tjuarez — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:27:00 PDT

Liberty Screening specializes in providing E-Verify and electronic Form I9 services to many of our clients. They are provided not just the ease and sensibility of performing these tasks electronically, they are provided an extensive support system that ensures they are legally compliant with each and every candidate, each and every time.

Our partner, Form I9, helps keep you compliant and provides searchable records of each Form I9 issued for each new-hire. Ask yourself the questions below, and if you find yourself unable or if you answer No to any of the questions below, please, contact Liberty today:

Do you have a current I9 or E-Verify provider?
Do you know if your existing I9 records are compliant?
Can you provide all I9 records within the 72 hour timeframe required in the event of an ICE audit?
Have your recently completed an external audit of your current I9 records?
Are you missing any I9 records?
Are you updating expiring work documents as required in Section 3?
Are you purging your I9 records based on the DHS retention requirements?

Three States Update Immigration and E-Verify Laws

tjuarez — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 06:29:00 PDT

State laws going into effect impacting South Carolina, Mississippi, and Utah.

South Carolina -

The South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act will require all employers who do business in South Carolina to either participate in E-Verify or only hire employees who have or qualify for a SC driver's license. Employers failing to meet the requirements could face up to a $1,000 per violation. After an audit of roughly 1,500 companies, SC issued 90 citiations for various E-Verify mistakes. The penalty can be waivd under the law's first time violation exception as long as the employer shows good faith and begins using E-Verify and corrects the problem within 72 hours. Now that the state has effectively increased their E-Verify requirements, SC fully expects the amount of citations that will be issued to rise.

Mississippi -

The Mississippi Employment Protection Act, implemented in states, mandating E-Verify participation for state agencies and political subdivisions, public contractors, subcontractors, and private employers with at least 30 employees but less than 100. In July 2011 the law will expand to all employers in Mississippi.

Employers who do not comply with the law by the applicable date may have their state contracts terminated and also become ineligible for public contracts for the next three years. In addition, the employer may have their license, permit, or certificate allowing the employer to do business in Mississippi suspended for a period of one year.

Utah -

Utah recently enacted the Private Employer Verification Act that requires all private employers who employ more than 15 employees to use E-Verify or another similar online process to check on the employment eligibility of their employees. The bill does not provide any penalities for non compliance. Employers may register with the state for certification of compliance for a fee. The Department of Commerce publishes the list of all registered private employers on its website "Verify Utah." At the date of this article there were nearly 100 registered businesses.

Boston Blocks Raises for Clean Drug Tests

tjuarez — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:19:00 PDT

Boston City Council will likely steel itself against the city’s firefighter’s union. The firefighters have requested, after near year-long negotiations with city, that they receive a 2.5% raise for coming to work “clean and sober.”

Part of the union’s compensation negotiations included mandatory drug testing for all firefighters in the city of Boston. Now they are requesting pay raises for essentially being sober at work. The firefighters might argue that police and emergency medical technicians of Boston receive benefits for being clean and sober, but those unions would disagree.

Citizens of Boston are agreeing – no public employees should receive extra pay for submitting to random drug and alcohol testing as a condition of employment or to remain on the job.

Missing Children Search Team Screens Volunteers

tjuarez — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 06:57:00 PDT

Sheriff Robert Hertz of Madison County Illinois is searching for 300 volunteers to joining the missing children search team.

Though the team isn’t activated yet, the sheriff is planning the team now so that is prepared when an emergency arises.

Hertz is partnering with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to form a Child Abduction Response Team that would be called into action when people go missing, are reported lost, are presumed injured.

Though Hertz couldn’t recall a case in Madison county where a child was abducted he was adamant, “And I hope that it doesn’t happen.”

All volunteers for the search team will be asked to undergo a background check. Persons will need to be physically fit to assist in the search and have nothing questionable on his or her background. The team will not be armed.

Morton's Restuarant Settles with Justice Department: Immigration

tjuarez — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:17:00 PDT

The Justice Department alleges that Morton's Restuarunt in Portland, Oregon required two non-citizen employees authorized to work in the United States to present more documents than legally required to establish their work eligibility. Morton's then fired the workers after it rejected their valid Social Security cards and demanded to see additional documentation establishing their work authorization. However, US citizen's employed by Morton's were able to use only their social security cards to gain employment at the resturant.

"Our nation's laws ensure than all individuals who are authorized to work in this county can do so without fear of discrimination or retaliation because of their citizenship status or nation origin," said Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that all authorized US workers, regardless of citizenship or national origin are afforded equal opportunity in the workplace.

Under the terms of the out-of-court-settlement, Morton's has agreed to provide full back pay of $2,880 and $5,715.62 to the two employees as well as a civil penalty to the US Treasury of $2,200. Morton's employees will be trained on federal protection for workers against citizenship status and national origin discrimination. Their parent company, Morton's of Chicago, Inc. will provide complete information about properly conducting the employment eligibility verification process to its managers and employees nationwide who have any role in completing the government's Form I9 process to determine work authorization.

ICE Increases Illegal Immigration Crackdown

tjuarez — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:00:00 PDT

The federal government is looking to crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers and on residents with expired visas according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) new strategic plan.

"Strategic Priorities for Fiscal Years 2010-2014" outlines an internal realignment. Part of ICE's objective is to "create a culture of employer compliance," involving "agressive criminal and civil enforcement against those employers who knowingly violate the law."

The campaign supports the government's E-Verify program - which grants businesses access to a database that helps determine employment eligibility. Use of E-Verify is mandatory in some states and for all federal contractors, and some anit-immigration advocates argue that the program should be mandatory for all businesses.

How Not to Get Hired

tjuarez — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:45:00 PDT

What does it take to land that coveted position at the company you long to work for? The answer is complex and not easy, but it does include a combination of timing, education, experience, and personality. You may be ruled out for that position by making a simple mistake without even being aware of it. First impressions are important!

Your resume is the beginning point of your job search – the typical resume is chronological listing your most recent job first. This is the job your new potential employer will focus on first. Your resume should be honest and reveal your competencies. If you think the hiring manager won’t be looking for indiscrepancies (and that they won’t see them) you are sorely mistaken. Gaps in employment, embellished accomplishments, and inflated levels of education all catch the hiring manager’s eye and subject your resume to closer scrutiny.

Many companies complete a criminal background check and reference checks before extending you the position. It’s best to be honest and disclose any issues that might turn up – job seekers tend to take for granted that their references will give them a positive review. Always ask your references for their permission to utilize their name and contact information, and ask if their review will be a positive one.

The competition for jobs is fierce, the hiring process will go much smoother if you use common sense when searching for employment – be honest, be competent, and you’ll be a much more desirable candidate.

New Hires Lie About Education Histories

tjuarez — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 07:17:00 PDT

It is well known that many job seekers embellish their resumes – enhance their previous job titles, or upgrade their pay scale, but when it comes to their education history – they will downright lie.

In most cases, their claim to having earned a higher education may not be a total invention. They may have actually been enrolled in the university or college listed on their resume, but they failed to graduate.

Worse still, and just as common, are the job seekers who claim to have graduated from a college or university they never enrolled it. These types of candidates will use any type of college or university – and there are thousands of them. They have no shame in selecting well known, or even Ivy League schools; they will select lesser known schools or even select diploma mills with similar names to well-known large universities.

Diploma mills are especially dangerous because they will provide an education verification – they will provide dates attended and what subject was studied. It’s important to review all material presented to you in their resume and references – though these types of job seekers do represent the minority, they are out there and they are getting more courageous as the materials and tools for their deceit become more and more sophisticated.

Houston Managers Indicted in Immigration Case

tjuarez — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:56:00 PDT

Five Houston-based managers have been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to employ illegal immigrants. All of them have pleased not guilty.

The managers for IFCO Systems North America are charged with offenses related to illegal immigration and employment-related practices. Following a tip in Feburary 2005, ICE officials found a IFCO plant in Albany, NY were the W-2 forms were destroyed.

In April 2006 – ICE agents arrested 1,187 illegal immigrants nationwide, including Texas.

In 2008, IFCO and the federal government reached a nearly $21 million settlement that allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution for their part in hiring illegal workers.

If the five managers under investigation are found guilty they could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Census Bureau Changes Screening Standards

tjuarez — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:35:00 PDT

As we wrote earlier, the Census Bureau hired a convicted sex offender to knock on doors in New Jersey. USA Today reported an undercover video depicting Census supervisors paying their workers for hours they did not work.

Now, the Census Bureau has changed some of the standards for screening potential employees: “No hire will be allowed into the field without passing a fingerprint process,” Census Director Robert Groves said, “any name check that discovers a mismatch between name, date of birth, sex, or Social Security number…will stop processing of applicant.”

The New Jersey sex offender was hired prior to his fingerprint check being returned. Another case in Indiana describes a Census taker who was allegedly involved in a burglary and rape even though he passed a background check with no criminal history.

Groves went on, “Starting immediately, whenever new information is obtained about criminal activities of our staff, immediate action will be taken.”

More often than not, however, it is the Census taker that is a victim with more than 100 incidents of assaults or attacks against Census workers including shootings, robberies, and carjackings. Seven Census workers have been killed in Car accidents and one was murdered off duty.