labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Under the new South Carolina Immigration law, employers must take a number of measures to ensure that the employees they are hiring may legally work in the U.S.

 

These steps include:

• Complying with all federal I-9 requirements
• Verifying the legal status of employees

 

The state recommends that employers use E-Verify, a free federal program, to verify the employee’s identity online in a few minutes.

 

This law goes into effect on July 1, 2009 for private employers with 100 or more employees. Private employers with fewer than 100 employees have until July 1, 2010 to comply.

 

E-Verify is a program available through the Department of Homeland Security. It detects fraudulent documents by comparing the employee’s information, including date of birth, social security number and gender, with a nationwide database and social security records and immigration documents.

 

A new feature of E-Verify will also permit the system to compare the photos on immigration documents with those in the DHS records. This will make it more difficult for an employee to counterfeit immigration documents such as green cards.

 

According to the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, employers can also verify identity by making sure that the employee has a South Carolina driver’s license or I.D. card. A driver’s license or I.D. card from another state with requirements as strict as those in South Carolina is also acceptable. The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles has determined that drivers’ licenses or identification cards issued by Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia are acceptable forms of identification. In addition, employers may accept a driver’s license or I.D. card from Maine issued after November 15, 2008.

 

The South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act was signed into law on June 4, 2008 by Governor Mark Sanford. The law establishes penalties, including fines for employers who fail to get verification, or who knowingly hire an illegal immigrant.

 

Employers who repeatedly violate this law could lose their business license, requiring them to close their doors.

 

The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation or LLR held a number of seminars In April 2009 to train employers on the state’s new immigration law.

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