Avoid Common I-9 Audit Mistakes

January 28th, 2011 Posted by Derrick

Federal agencies are focusing on audits resulting in and prosecutions of employers who hire undocumented workers, rather than raids to round up and deport illegal aliens. I-9 audits are conducted by , the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

 

Retail giant Abercrombie and Fitch recently paid of $1.04 million after an I-9 of stores in Michigan – though they had not hired a single undocumented worker. The company relied on an internally developed software program to produce and track I-9s. The software omitted an essential question, requiring the employee to attest to citizenship or legal immigration status. Because this feature was omitted, the company did not have a valid, complete I-9 form on one employee in the state.

 

In California, a company president faces criminal charges for hiring illegal workers after an I-9 audit. As ICE seeks civil and criminal penalties against executives and managers, an I-9 audit is no longer merely an annoyance.

 

Even if no criminal prosecution occurs, violators can face fines of $100 to $1,100 per employee for even the simplest of I-9 errors. The majority of I-9 audits occur as a result of tips by disgruntled employees, or violations of other employment regulations.

 

Employers can use a variety of techniques to avoid penalties and criminal prosecution during an I-9 audit: (more…)

1 Comments >> Posted in Federal Labor Laws,Regulations
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Rhode Island Governor Repeals E-Verify

January 26th, 2011 Posted by Amelia

State contractors in are no longer required to use E-Verify under an executive order signed by new governor Lincoln Chafee on his first day in office.

 

Chaffee, an Independent, said, “This repeal of all parts of the Executive Order on E-Verify will effectively turn the clock back to March 26, 2008, the day before then- Carcieri signed it into law.” Chafee added, “This re-set will allow us to engage in a comprehensive dialogue with our immigrant communities, law enforcement agencies and all interested parties. This is an opportunity to reach a consensus on how best to enforce the law.”

 

The new executive order means that companies holding contracts with the state of Rhode Island are no longer required to use E-Verify when hiring new employees. It is still lawful for the companies to use E-Verify, but they are not required to do so.

 

Branches of the state government are not required to use E-Verify for newly hired employees under the new executive order, and there is every indication that they will stop doing so.

 

In March 2008, Republican Governor Donald Carcieri issued an executive order that required all state agencies in the executive branch, and state contractors, to use E-Verify to ensure that they were not hiring undocumented workers.

 

This action is in contrast to a trend among states to more strongly enforce employment laws during a recession with high unemployment. In Florida, for example, the newly elected governor (more…)

No Comments >> Posted in Employment Laws,Labor and Employment,Rhode Island
Tags: , , , ,

Health Care Reform Nondiscrimination Delayed

January 21st, 2011 Posted by Cara

In late December the Internal Revenue Service or put compliance under Health Care Reform Act on hold. Unless the Health Care Reform Act is repealed or seriously modified, employers will still have to comply with the at some point before 2014. However, compliance originally scheduled to begin in January 2011 has been .

 

The IRS has promised to inform employers in advance when compliance with the non-discrimination clause goes into effect. While the IRS has not issued any definite guideline, many expect it to be effective with group health insurance plans beginning in September 2011 or later. Since most group health insurance plans are run on a calendar- basis, the anti- clause would actually go into effect for most employers in January 2012. Employers who are self-insured are already covered by the non- rules.

 

The U.S. Department of Labor has also issued new FAQs on Health Care Reform Act that address specific situations including mental health parity.

 

The nondiscrimination rules require that any new health care plan that is fully funded by the cannot discriminate in favor of highly paid employees. This ends the common practice of the CEO and CFO being given health insurance plans where the premiums are 100% paid by the , while most employees pay 60% or more of their health insurance premiums.

 

Under the Health Care Reform nondiscrimination rules, an employee can still be offered a healthcare plan that is completely funded by the employer. However, it must apply equally to employees at all levels.

 

The second provision of the nondiscrimination rules requires that benefits of healthcare plans offered to highly compensated executives cannot be better than benefits offered to other employees. For example, an employer cannot cap healthcare benefits for hourly workers at $20,000 per year but provide up to $1 million in benefits per year for executives.

 

In a highly publicized move, McDonald’s and several other major corporations petitioned the federal government to delay implementation because the healthcare plans they offer most employees do not meet the nondiscrimination guidelines.  

 

The IRS is developing numerical tests that an employer will have to meet, to demonstrate that plans offered are not discriminatory. In cases where an employer has a contract specifying that free healthcare will be provided to a highly compensated executive, the IRS suggests that employers (more…)

No Comments >> Posted in Compliance Issues,Federal Labor Laws,Regulations
Tags: , , , , ,

2011 Harassment Training Year in California

January 19th, 2011 Posted by Derrick

employers must provide a minimum two-hour training session on preventing in 2011. Under , each is required to train supervisors to avoid sexual harassment in the workplace at least every two years. Employers with 50 or more employees can avoid tracking training of individual employees if they conduct company-wide training for supervisors during one calendar . Because AB 1825 went into effect in 2005, the training takes place in -numbered years for most employers.

 

According to attorney David Goldman, employers should focus particularly on in the AB 1825 training. That is because complaints of retaliation increased 49% between 2006 and 2009. By comparison, charges of sexual harassment increased only 5% during the same period.

 

In particular, employers need to make supervisors aware that taking any negative action against an employee who files a or sexual harassment complaint in good faith is illegal retaliation. Common forms of retaliation can range from ostracizing the employee, to demoting or terminating the employee on trumped-up grounds. when a discrimination complaint is determined to be unfounded, retaliation against the employee is illegal. An employer can legally take negative action only against an employee who is found to have committed fraud when making the complaint of discrimination. 

 

Employers have good reason to focus on prevention of . The federal EEOC reports that between 2006 and 2009, overall complaints of illegal (more…)

No Comments >> Posted in California,Discrimination,Employment Laws,Hostile Environment,Sexual Harassment
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

2011 Employer Tax Credit Update

January 14th, 2011 Posted by Jolie

New legislation and regulations following the gains by Republicans in mid-term elections will impact many employers. These include developing news on Health Care Reform and extensions of many tax credits.

 

The last-second tax cut extension passed by Congress is formally titled the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. That law implemented a number of extensions to tax credits and benefits to employers, as revealed in this IRS guide for employers.

 

The biggest news is a 2% reduction in FICA withholding by employers, from 6.2% to 4.2%. Employers must implement this cut by January 31, 2011. It affects employees earning up to $106,800 per . This will result in an increase in take-home pay for workers, which replaces the “Make Work Pay” of up to $800 under the ARRA, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. New 2011 withholding tables are here.

 

Employers will receive tax credits for hiring workers: (more…)

No Comments >> Posted in Federal Labor Laws,Regulations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1  2  3  4  5  6  7   Next >>