Businesses Face the Ramifications of Supreme Court’s Ruling
The Supreme Court on Thursday voted to uphold an Arizona law that can put employers who hire illegal immigrants in trouble. According to Chief Justice John Roberts, “Congress preserved the ability of the states to impose their own sanctions through licensing.” Some states are beginning to require that businesses use “E-verify” which is a program that checks employees legal statuses. Punishments for hiring an illegal immigrant vary, but if it is determined that it was done knowingly your business could possibly lose its charter or license.
A few years back we hired a Brazilian woman who submitted to us incorrect information as to her status as a citizen. Within the year we received a letter from the IRS notifying us that she was not a U.S. Citizen and that we needed to terminate her immediately or face a $10,000 fine. Guess how the story ended. That was 7 years ago that happened to us. If this happen today having the I-9 signed isn’t enough, instead you would just receive the fine which I believe is more than $10,000 . In our opinion by using the E Verify system you have a built in defense if the Department of Labor either on the State or Federal side come knocking. It takes so little to set up and administer , yet it will greatly aide in defending your business because someone submitted fake documents, or provided a fake social security number.
People ask me all the time what’s the difference between risk management and insurance. Our advice in setting up E-Verify is an example of risk management, where by a simple tweak in protocol you protect your business from a potential net income loss, instead of simply buying insurance. At Metropolitan Risk Advisory we suggest that you do not wait for your state’s ruling to come. Be prepared and informed by contacting one of our experts to help set up your protocol.