What is Form I-9 and What is the Importance of I-9 Compliance?
How compliant is your company with the Form I-9 requirements? Since 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) has mandated the use of a Form I-9 by all U.S. employers. This form is used for employment eligibility verification of all newly hired employees – both citizen and non-citizen – and must be completed within three business days of employment.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Human Resources Diamond in the Rough – Exit Interviews
Does your company have an internal process for speaking with employees leaving the organization? Those exit interviews are diamonds in the rough for Human Resources. They’re your best–and last–chance to capture actionable, honest and critical feedback from a departing employee. In this article, I’ll present an argument for this undervalued stage in talent management, and highlight the three components of an ideal offboarding strategy.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Have You Scheduled A Review Of Your Employment Practices For 2012?
There are significant changes to employment practices for 2012, are you ready? The Wage and Hour Division expects to conduct an additional 3,250 investigations in 2012, which will mainly target industries with higher rates of violations. These industries are construction, child care, home health care, grocery stores, janitorial businesses, poultry and meat processing, business services and landscaping.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
The DOL Has Recruited Allied States To Reduce Worker Misclassification
Company’s should audit their agreements on exempt employees and independent contractors to address any misclassification issues. On December 5, 2011, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the improper classification of employees as independent contractors.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
What Are The Pros And Cons Of Severance Agreements?
Company’s should take a hard look before their offer departing employees severance agreements. Some employers pay employees a lump sum at the end of their tenure in order to tide them over until they find a new job, and never enter into a contractual agreement with them. This is perfectly legal, but it should be seen as a gift and nothing more.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Businesses Should Leave I-9 Audits To The Professionals
Company’s should audit their Form I-9’s annually, with a trained internal employee or an outside professional organization. One of the most common questions for employers under the Alabama Immigration Law is “how can I show a good faith belief my current workers are legal?” This question comes often as cities, counties and state agencies begin to send out letters to those who do business with them and are being asked to sign an E-Verify Affidavit of Compliance.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Review Your Hiring Practices Because The EEOC Will Be
The EEOC is focusing on failure to hire. In late September, it sued sporting goods retailer Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC, alleging that it engaged in a pattern or practice of failing to hire African American and Hispanic applicants for jobs in its retail stores nationwide. The lawsuit also alleges that Bass Pro unlawfully destroyed or failed to keep records and documents related to employment applications and internal discrimination complaints and punished employees who opposed its unlawful practices.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Form I-9 Errors Will be Costly for Violators
Errors completing the Form I-9 will be expensive for violating companies. Internal I-9 Audits should be in writing, and should involve not only correction of errors, but also updates in policies and procedures and training, to ensure good corrections and prevention of future errors. Audits should be conducted by quailed, well trained, impartial auditors who are able to review I-9 from the point of view of preparing the employer to defend itself from DHS.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
The Majority of Colorado Businesses Not Verifying Employees Eligibility
Colorado businesses has a responsibility to verify employees eligibility. More than half of Colorado businesses have failed to comply with a state law that requires them to verify that new employees are in the country legally, according to an audit released earlier this week.
Auditors found that the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment is not doing enough to assure compliance with the law, adopted during a 2006 special session of the General Assembly focusing on illegal immigration.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
What Role Should Employers Play About Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Sexual harassment awareness in the workplace plays a critical role. Sexual harassment in the workplace has long been illegal. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of1964 classifies sexual harassment as discrimination. The specific definition is “unwelcome verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is severe or pervasive and affects working conditions or creates a hostile work environment.”
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Employee Misclassification has the Department of Labor Teaming With the IRS
Because of employee misclassification the Department of Labor and the IRS find the need to collaborate. Independent contractors are ineligible for minimum wage and overtime pay, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation and social security benefits. And, the government does not collect employment taxes on compensation paid to independent contractors. Therefore, if an employee is misclassified as an independent contractor, he or she loses out on valuable protections and the government loses out on substantial tax revenues.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Do You Know How to Protect your Business From Workplace Retaliation Claims?
Workplace Retaliation Claims can be extremely expensive to the organization if not handled correctly. “We are certainly seeing an uptick in retaliation claims filed by current and former employees,” says Nicole Gray, an attorney in the Labor and Employment Practice Group at McDonald Hopkins. “Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that have expanded the rights of employees who complain about retaliation, energetic enforcement by federal agencies, and increased public awareness are all factors that could explain why retaliation claims are becoming more frequent.”
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
How to avoid FLSA Class Action Lawsuits
Does your organization know the difference between the employee classifications? Many companies don’t understand when to properly classify employees as exempt versus non-exempt, and consequently whether to pay overtime. Most think all you have to do to avoid paying overtime is make an agreement with the employee to pay them on a salary basis. While a salary basis test is part of the requirement to make an employee exempt from overtime, that is just a small part of the analysis. Startups are particularly susceptible to this, as staffing is constantly in flux, employees work long hours, and entrepreneurs are still learning the ropes as they go.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
What Role are you Asking your HR Department to Play?
Companies Be aware of Mistakes That Make Compliance Efforts Fail
The federal government plays a tremendous role in how a business must operate so be aware. For as much time and effort is spent at most enterprise and government organizations in complying with regulatory and standards body mandates, an awful lot of security firms can’t seem to get compliance right. A study earlier this year showed that half of organizations have failed an audit, and 75 percent were not sure they’d pass their audits in the future.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Fair Labor Standard Act Hits a Texas Restaurant with Fines
FLSA is an area of employment that every business has to understand for compliance sake. According to a U.S. Department of Labor press release, Darden Restaurants Inc., doing business as Red Lobster in Lubbock, has agreed to pay $27,427 in back wages after an investigation by the U.S. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division found that 109 current and former servers were not properly paid as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The company also has been assessed $23,980 in civil money penalties to be paid to the government. Red Lobster in Lubbock is a full-service restaurant, employing approximately 82 workers.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Review the Tips For Dealing With Workplace Discrimination
If your organization has not been trained in the areas of Title VII, beware. If a situation occurs that you think constitutes inequality, talk with your company’s human resources department and see what they would advise you to do. If your company doesn’t have a human resources department, talk with your supervisor. If your supervisor is the one who has committed the infraction, go to your supervisor’s supervisor. If there isn’t anyone who can help you to resolve the situation that you are in, it’s time to pull out the experts and hire a lawyer.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
ICE Checking Records for Hiring of Illegal Immigrants
2011 offers another round of Form I-9 Audits by Immigration Custom Enforcement or ICE. While reaffirming that the audits are intended to foster a culture of compliance among potential employers of illegal immigrants, the agency noted that this is the fifth such audit program. In the fiscal year 2010 ICE arrested 196 employers from 2,338 audits. The 2,196 audits of the preceding 2009 fiscal year resulted in 114 employer arrests.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Company’s Beware, Fresh Round of I‑9 Audits gets Front Page Coverage
Notice of Inspection audits are back on the mines of ICE. The latest Wall Street Journal story relayed news that ICE had issued a “notice of inspection” or NOI, to 1,000 employers nationwide in fields related to critical infrastructure and key resources. You can read more about this story in a recent I-9 Compliance Bulletin.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
What is your Company’s Responsibilities With An ICE Notice of Inspection?
Do you know what process should be followed when you receive a NOI? When you first receive your NOI, begin by gathering all documentation. The agent will usually provide a list of what documentation ICE is requesting. Of course, it will list Form I-9, but it may also include a copy of your payroll, a list of current employees and business licenses. A Special Agent in Charge can also ask for Social Security no-match letters, lists of managers and copies of company compliance policies. If you feel you won’t meet the deadline, you can request a delay. It might even be best to retain a document management service which is experienced in immigration law. A service can assess your compliance before the inspection and prevent issues from arising.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
