New Jersey employment law Article

Employing Illegals

What do you do if you want to hire an immigrant? Does the person have a green card? Is the person a legal or illegal alien? Did you know that New Jersey is the seventh leading destination for aliens? Not space aliens, but foreign citizens residing in the United States. Statistically, New Jersey ranks seventh in the United States as the destination for legal and illegal immigration. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) knows this and has substantially increased its immigration-related investigation and prosecution efforts throughout the state.

Since 1987, employers have been required to verify the employment eligibility and immigration status of each and every employee at their work site. Whether the employer has two employees or 2,000, federal law requires the verification of employment eligibility of each. Whether the employee was born in Piscataway or Peru, the employment eligibility verification procedures are the same.

Specifically, federal law requires that an employer fill out INS Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Form, within the first three days of employment. Both the employer and employee must sign the form where indicated. The employer must request and inspect the employee's documentations, such as a birth certificate, passport, "green card," employment authorization document in order to confirm an individual's eligibility for employment in the U.S. The failure to complete the form, to sign the form or to keep the form for the required length of time, can result in the imposition of substantial fines. The law provides for fines ranging from $100 to $1,000 for each violation. For an employer with 25 employees, this represents a potential fine of $25,000! Both the INS and the Department of Labor are committing substantial resources to the enforcement of these provisions. Over the past several months, hundreds of employers throughout New Jersey have been audited for compliance with employment verification provisions. In many cases, this has led to the commencement of enforcement proceedings and the imposition of substantial fines.

Don't let this happen to you. For assistance in this or other questions on immigration, please contact Miller, Miller & Tucker P.A.

The information expressed above should not be construed as legal advice but merely information on the law that may be of interest to you. Remember, individual legal problems require individual solutions. Please contact Miller, Miller & Tucker, P.A. if we can help.