Archive for July, 2007
Decades ago, employees would just stick on their shops “Hiring,” and choose employees from the hundreds who attempted to apply. That was the old recruitment pattern. Employment process before was not that fast track, snappy and highly technological. Only when the revolutionized techy world existed that recruitment went in a different process.
Recruitment is a very tiring yet exciting process. Tiring for an employer since hundreds of applicants wishing to be recruited walks in for an interview. The stressful part of it is gouging which is right. While it may be negatively taken as a tiresome activity,recruitment in one sense it makes it exciting and challenging. Meeting people challenges both the capability to think and analyze. Different personalities and behaviors can be observed.
With over millions of hunters searching for a fresh meat in the employment market, how will an employer choose the best hunter?
Try this best shots and catch for the best job hunter.
Tip 1
x————–x
Informations, from resumes to applications must be placed in a database. This can help in the recruitment process, by allowing to retrieve pertinent data just by entered a keyword. Easy! This unloads the burden in recruitment process. There is no need to pull out from the boxes and take five hours looking just for one record. With the database, everything you need a can be accessed instantly. Keeping this records filed is at times very useful for reference purposes. By looking at the database, applicants who are shortlisted can be called in case the choices were in a no-show or no-call. The maximum years to keep the records would at least for five years. References would matter from time to time.
Tip 2
x—————-x
While in recruitment, every applicant woes, sometimes there are too good to be true. Contact references written on the face of the resume or application form is vital. It is best that before undergoing the process of recruitment, requiring the applicants to provide for references can be helpful.
When references are supplied, you can call on each for verification. The mere interest on the applicants does not alter the importance of having the reference. The latter can serve as an important link in the future. Some references can be future partners or some would probably be the best prospects for future job recruitment.
Tip 3
x——————————-x
Get in touch with the data periodically. With the systematized data collection, news, updates and informations can be sent to applicants in a speedier and more systematized manner. It is easy to inform them whether they got the job or they failed in the recruitment process, in case call is not successful. For sure, you would not want your recruitment process be the talked of the town because of inadequacies. It even makes recruitment formal.
Tip 4
x——————————-x
In advertising your recruitment, the Internet is a good choice. Employed and unemployed, the web reaches both. Getting a wide range of market is positive. With millions of searchers going online, the best potential candidate might be one of them on the look for a job. Great ad would be a nice strategy to lure them. It is one way to sell your company and attract applicants.
Tip 5
x—————————–x
Since job listing would make you one step closer to a good recruitment deal, the need to let the applicant know what is expected from them is great. An ad that would be appealing catches good fish.
Tip 6
x—————————x
An effective job recruitment process not only is the process of hiring the best applicant. When good people shift from their job to yours, you are selling good career opportunities. This can be an avenue for a healthier and more successful start of professional development for both. The next time that recruitment takes place, it would be easier to sell opportunities based from the experience.
Tip 7
x———————————x
It is not bad to post on different sites and different categories. The more job listings you have the more chances of getting the best. Searchers sometimes shift from one site to another without browsing the rest. If the job is listed in not just one site, the more opportunities for recruitment to take place.
Tip 8
x———————————–x
Try creating a website. This can make your recruitment standout. When applicants learns that you’ve got all the aces. They will surely be walking towards your doorstep wanting to be recruited.
x———————x
By: Oz Free – Jobs
About the Author:
Home Based Business Ideas and Tips
Home Based Business Ideas and Tips :
There is no question that working from home can be fun. A lot of people find it hard to locate a job that can be done from home. Once they locate it, they might not be able to manage their projects. Here are a few tips for managing your home based business so it would run smoothly, no matter what it is.
Be a slave driver. You heard right. You must become the very man or woman you wanted to escape from when they were your employer. Newly self-employed folks are usually making the mistake of lacking the direction and guidance they were used to when employed by somebody else.http://legitimate-work-at-home-teens-jobs.blogspot.com
Stick to your prepared schedule. Do not permit yourself to be lazy. One of the greatest advantages of working from home is the freedom to set up your own hours, being able to do the things you like and work around them. The downside is that you can just as well put off your assignments and watch TV.
When you have a home based business you must set sensible working hours and stick to them. Of course, when Alice needs a ride to her piano lesson; when Jimmy is sick–you have the freedom of leaving your home office and taking care of them. But do not allow Alice and Jimmy distract you too often or your work will not be done. Remember: no work– no income.
Be on the watch. When you work from home you always have to look at the next project, the next great product, the next sale, depending on what business you are in.
It’s easy to get complacent when things are going good and expect that they always will. At those times work at home people often just go with the flow and stop searching new opportunities. That is a big mistake. If the work suddenly dries up, so does your income. If you’re working hard and have plenty of work, you certainly do not want to over burden yourself with more, but always keep an eye toward the horizon.
Always be on top of where available opportunities can be found. If you are into online sales and you are making money on eBay, never cease checking how others are working and making their fortune and put their methods into action for your own business.
The Internet is paved with money that could be yours, but starting your own home based business is for the determined and the courageous. If you have confidence in yourself, you can definitely make it. You will be self-employed, work your own hours from your home office and you will be able to generate a nice income.http://legitimate-work-at-home-teens-jobs.blogspot.com
By: Boris Tomson
About the Author:
There is no question that working from home can be fun. A lot of people find it hard to locate a job that can be done from home. Once they locate it, they might not be able to manage their projects. Here are a few tips for managing your home based business so it would run smoothly, no matter what it is.
Be a slave driver. You heard right. You must become the very man or woman you wanted to escape from when they were your employer. Newly self-employed folks are usually making the mistake of lacking the direction and guidance they were used to when employed by somebody else.http://legitimate-work-at-home-teens-jobs.blogspot.com
Stick to your prepared schedule. Do not permit yourself to be lazy. One of the greatest advantages of working from home is the freedom to set up your own hours, being able to do the things you like and work around them. The downside is that you can just as well put off your assignments and watch TV.
When you have a home based business you must set sensible working hours and stick to them. Of course, when Alice needs a ride to her piano lesson; when Jimmy is sick–you have the freedom of leaving your home office and taking care of them. But do not allow Alice and Jimmy distract you too often or your work will not be done. Remember: no work– no income.
Be on the watch. When you work from home you always have to look at the next project, the next great product, the next sale, depending on what business you are in.
It’s easy to get complacent when things are going good and expect that they always will. At those times work at home people often just go with the flow and stop searching new opportunities. That is a big mistake. If the work suddenly dries up, so does your income. If you’re working hard and have plenty of work, you certainly do not want to over burden yourself with more, but always keep an eye toward the horizon.
Always be on top of where available opportunities can be found. If you are into online sales and you are making money on eBay, never cease checking how others are working and making their fortune and put their methods into action for your own business.
The Internet is paved with money that could be yours, but starting your own home based business is for the determined and the courageous. If you have confidence in yourself, you can definitely make it. You will be self-employed, work your own hours from your home office and you will be able to generate a nice income.http://legitimate-work-at-home-teens-jobs.blogspot.com
By: Boris Tomson
About the Author:
Hi,I’m Boris.If you are looking for ways to make money and you want advice on the best work from home programs you have come to the right place. I was a researcher for Make Money Magazine for 11 years during that time I covered every make money program in the book. Five years ago when the “How To Make Money” market changed for the better because of the internet advances I decided to use the knowledge I gained from working for Make Money Magazine to quit this job and start up my own successful home business.I am now earning close to $90,000 every month from www.genbucks.com/?divya the home businesses I setup, so I haven’t looked back once. I have now devoted most of my life to the make money field and now I think it’s time to give something back, so I have decided to write this review site to tell people about the best home business programs around and what programs are just scams.If you are looking to purchase a proven, legitimate home business opportunity I highly recommend that you take a look at the programs I have suggested because out of the home business opportunities which I am currently using these are the ones which are making me the most money.Also my suggestions on how easy each program was to set up, their success rate and which programs are best vault for money.http://www.onlinesfortune.com
Boris Tomson.
Practical Self Employed Tax Tips to Save you Money
Directors of companies are not self employed but employees of that company. In essence anyone who is in business either as a sole trader or part of a partnership and receives income that is not taxed under the PAYE system is effectively self-employed. Occasional miscellaneous receipts would not be regarded as self employment and should be entered on the tax return as all other income.
A regular source of receipts would be regarded as self employment income. Everyone considering themselves self employed should register with the Inland Revenue within 3 months of starting trading or risk a penalty fine of 100 pounds.
Keep a record of all transactions.
Sales turnover is the amount the business earns before deducting business expenses including receipts of any kind for goods sold or work done such as commission, tips, payments in kind, fees and insurance proceeds. Sales of fixed assets are excluded from sales turnover as are Business Start up grants which are entered in a different section of the self assessment tax return.
Excel spreadsheets make a good solution to record the sales income and bank receipts as part of the small business accounting software. Check the amounts deposited do not exceed the declared turnover which would indicate that you have understated your sales and your tax liability would at the least be increased unless you could provide a solid reason for the anomaly.
Ensure financial, purchase and sales records are compatible.
Compatibility will vary from business to business. Examples if you post 100 EBay items your records should show 100 items of income and 100 items of postage. Buy food for a restaurant for resale at four times cost, some wastage is inevitable but the underlying compatibility between sales generated and purchases should be reasonable.
The average number of meals sold from a take-away shop should be compatible with the number of take-away cartons purchased. A taxi driver should not claim fuel receipts during his holiday period and the fuel bills should be compatible with the fares obtained. Unusual and incompatible expenditure declared on the self assessment tax return can and do trigger Inland Revenue enquiries.
Many Inland Revenue enquiries result in a higher tax liability due to the scrupulous professional way in which compliance investigations are carried out.
Obtain receipts for everything.
Tax payers lose millions each year by not obtaining or retaining receipts for expenses. If you are claiming fuel costs for a business trip and fill up with 50 pounds of petrol get a receipt. The tax saved by including that receipt in your accounts is 11 pounds at basic tax rates and 20 pounds at higher tax rates.
If your business turnover is over the vat threshold of 64,000 pounds p.a. for 2007-08 the receipt is worth even more. 16.81 pounds vat and income tax at basic tax rate and 24.47 pounds at the higher income tax rate. The same is true for all other business receipts.
Obtain a receipt for everything.
If you lose a receipt then still include that expenditure in your accounting records but if your tax return is enquired into by the Inland Revenue that expenditure may be disallowed unless you can argue and sometimes prove the expense was in fact incurred. May help to note in your records – receipt lost.
Do not mix business and personal.
The general rule is that items solely for business use can be claimed for tax purposes and the business proportion of personal expenditure may be allowed although the rules are applied quite strictly. If you purchase both business and personal items from a supplier the business expenses only can be claimed but if you obtained all the items on a single receipt you would be disallowed the cost of that journey as it was not solely for business purposes.
Claim business expenses incurred prior to trading.
Business expenses incurred up to seven years prior to trading actually commencing can be deducted from business turnover if these expenses were solely for the future business purposes. Enter such expenses in your accounting records as if they had been incurred on the first day of trading but show the actual purchase date.
Claim home costs if you work from home.
If part of your home is identifiable as solely for business purposes then home costs can be claimed. The cost allowed is the proportion of the total area of the home the business area occupies. For example, excluding shared facilities of kitchen and toilet if the home has three bedrooms, living and dining room and one bedroom is used solely as an office then 1/5 of home costs could be claimed. The home costs to claim would be heat and light, insurance, general and water rates and mortgage interest excluding repayment amounts.
Where mortgage interest is claimed the revenue might also claim as a capital gain the increase in value of that proportion of the home, such Capital Gains Tax being subject to tapering relief over time. It may be safer not to claim mortgage interest as part of the home costs.
Take care if claiming the wages of a partner against profits.
Partner wages can be deducted as a business expense although there are rules which would be applied in such circumstances to ensure the amount paid is both real and reasonable. The business would need to operate a PAYE scheme for the partner wages, deducting income tax and national insurance, and produce all the statutory requirements.
The work carried out must be real not invented and the rate paid reasonable for the nature of the work and the time spent. Evidence may also be required that the partner wages were actually physically paid to that partner, for example in the form of a cheque.
Claim vehicle costs or mileage allowances.
Vehicle running costs and expenses such as fuel, excise duty, insurance, repairs and breakdown membership may be claimed as business expenses if the vehicle is used solely for business purposes. Travel from home to work is not business use and disallowed. The proportion of vehicle running costs and capital allowances which are claimable are dependent upon the proportion the vehicle is used for business and personal use.
Parking fees for business purposes may be claimed. Parking fines and penalties for motoring expenses are not claimable as business expenses for tax purposes. An alternative to claiming vehicle running costs and vehicle capital allowances would be to claim mileage allowances which at the time of writing are 40p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter.
Write off expenditure against taxable profit unless the item is a fixed asset.
Depreciation is not allowed and replaced by Capital allowances for the purposes of calculating the tax payable. Capital allowances are designed to write off the cost of purchasing a fixed asset over the life of the asset rather than in the financial year in which it was purchased thereby spreading the tax relief on the asset over those years.
Many assets purchased by small businesses fall into a grey area as whether they are fixed assets or normal business expenses. Generally a fixed asset would be defined as an item that would be used by the business over several years and usually of significant value. 100% tax relief is obtained on items purchased which are not fixed assets and automatically claimed whatever the small business accounting software.
Avoid fines and penalties by submitting tax returns on time.
Accounting records and Self assessment tax returns should be prepared well in before the first submission date of 30th September to enable the information to be checked and verified before submission to ensure all possible claimable expenses have been included. The final deadline for submission is 31st January with late returns and payments being subject to penalty fines and interest payments which should be avoided.
By: Terry Cartwright
About the Author:
A regular source of receipts would be regarded as self employment income. Everyone considering themselves self employed should register with the Inland Revenue within 3 months of starting trading or risk a penalty fine of 100 pounds.
Keep a record of all transactions.
Sales turnover is the amount the business earns before deducting business expenses including receipts of any kind for goods sold or work done such as commission, tips, payments in kind, fees and insurance proceeds. Sales of fixed assets are excluded from sales turnover as are Business Start up grants which are entered in a different section of the self assessment tax return.
Excel spreadsheets make a good solution to record the sales income and bank receipts as part of the small business accounting software. Check the amounts deposited do not exceed the declared turnover which would indicate that you have understated your sales and your tax liability would at the least be increased unless you could provide a solid reason for the anomaly.
Ensure financial, purchase and sales records are compatible.
Compatibility will vary from business to business. Examples if you post 100 EBay items your records should show 100 items of income and 100 items of postage. Buy food for a restaurant for resale at four times cost, some wastage is inevitable but the underlying compatibility between sales generated and purchases should be reasonable.
The average number of meals sold from a take-away shop should be compatible with the number of take-away cartons purchased. A taxi driver should not claim fuel receipts during his holiday period and the fuel bills should be compatible with the fares obtained. Unusual and incompatible expenditure declared on the self assessment tax return can and do trigger Inland Revenue enquiries.
Many Inland Revenue enquiries result in a higher tax liability due to the scrupulous professional way in which compliance investigations are carried out.
Obtain receipts for everything.
Tax payers lose millions each year by not obtaining or retaining receipts for expenses. If you are claiming fuel costs for a business trip and fill up with 50 pounds of petrol get a receipt. The tax saved by including that receipt in your accounts is 11 pounds at basic tax rates and 20 pounds at higher tax rates.
If your business turnover is over the vat threshold of 64,000 pounds p.a. for 2007-08 the receipt is worth even more. 16.81 pounds vat and income tax at basic tax rate and 24.47 pounds at the higher income tax rate. The same is true for all other business receipts.
Obtain a receipt for everything.
If you lose a receipt then still include that expenditure in your accounting records but if your tax return is enquired into by the Inland Revenue that expenditure may be disallowed unless you can argue and sometimes prove the expense was in fact incurred. May help to note in your records – receipt lost.
Do not mix business and personal.
The general rule is that items solely for business use can be claimed for tax purposes and the business proportion of personal expenditure may be allowed although the rules are applied quite strictly. If you purchase both business and personal items from a supplier the business expenses only can be claimed but if you obtained all the items on a single receipt you would be disallowed the cost of that journey as it was not solely for business purposes.
Claim business expenses incurred prior to trading.
Business expenses incurred up to seven years prior to trading actually commencing can be deducted from business turnover if these expenses were solely for the future business purposes. Enter such expenses in your accounting records as if they had been incurred on the first day of trading but show the actual purchase date.
Claim home costs if you work from home.
If part of your home is identifiable as solely for business purposes then home costs can be claimed. The cost allowed is the proportion of the total area of the home the business area occupies. For example, excluding shared facilities of kitchen and toilet if the home has three bedrooms, living and dining room and one bedroom is used solely as an office then 1/5 of home costs could be claimed. The home costs to claim would be heat and light, insurance, general and water rates and mortgage interest excluding repayment amounts.
Where mortgage interest is claimed the revenue might also claim as a capital gain the increase in value of that proportion of the home, such Capital Gains Tax being subject to tapering relief over time. It may be safer not to claim mortgage interest as part of the home costs.
Take care if claiming the wages of a partner against profits.
Partner wages can be deducted as a business expense although there are rules which would be applied in such circumstances to ensure the amount paid is both real and reasonable. The business would need to operate a PAYE scheme for the partner wages, deducting income tax and national insurance, and produce all the statutory requirements.
The work carried out must be real not invented and the rate paid reasonable for the nature of the work and the time spent. Evidence may also be required that the partner wages were actually physically paid to that partner, for example in the form of a cheque.
Claim vehicle costs or mileage allowances.
Vehicle running costs and expenses such as fuel, excise duty, insurance, repairs and breakdown membership may be claimed as business expenses if the vehicle is used solely for business purposes. Travel from home to work is not business use and disallowed. The proportion of vehicle running costs and capital allowances which are claimable are dependent upon the proportion the vehicle is used for business and personal use.
Parking fees for business purposes may be claimed. Parking fines and penalties for motoring expenses are not claimable as business expenses for tax purposes. An alternative to claiming vehicle running costs and vehicle capital allowances would be to claim mileage allowances which at the time of writing are 40p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter.
Write off expenditure against taxable profit unless the item is a fixed asset.
Depreciation is not allowed and replaced by Capital allowances for the purposes of calculating the tax payable. Capital allowances are designed to write off the cost of purchasing a fixed asset over the life of the asset rather than in the financial year in which it was purchased thereby spreading the tax relief on the asset over those years.
Many assets purchased by small businesses fall into a grey area as whether they are fixed assets or normal business expenses. Generally a fixed asset would be defined as an item that would be used by the business over several years and usually of significant value. 100% tax relief is obtained on items purchased which are not fixed assets and automatically claimed whatever the small business accounting software.
Avoid fines and penalties by submitting tax returns on time.
Accounting records and Self assessment tax returns should be prepared well in before the first submission date of 30th September to enable the information to be checked and verified before submission to ensure all possible claimable expenses have been included. The final deadline for submission is 31st January with late returns and payments being subject to penalty fines and interest payments which should be avoided.
By: Terry Cartwright
About the Author:
Terry Cartwright, qualified accountant, designs Accounting Software that automates the self assessment tax return for self employed as an essential part of Small Business Accounting Software and Payroll Software that automates the revenue payroll tax returns
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tips in Recruitment
Decades ago, employees would just stick on their shops “Hiring,” and choose employees from the hundreds who attempted to apply. That was the old recruitment pattern. Employment process before was not that fast track, snappy and highly technological. Only when the revolutionized techy world existed that recruitment went in a different process.
Recruitment is a very tiring yet exciting process. Tiring for an employer since hundreds of applicants wishing to be recruited walks in for an interview. The stressful part of it is gouging which is right. While it may be negatively taken as a tiresome activity,recruitment in one sense it makes it exciting and challenging. Meeting people challenges both the capability to think and analyze. Different personalities and behaviors can be observed.
With over millions of hunters searching for a fresh meat in the employment market, how will an employer choose the best hunter?
Try this best shots and catch for the best job hunter.
Tip 1
x————–x
Informations, from resumes to applications must be placed in a database. This can help in the recruitment process, by allowing to retrieve pertinent data just by entered a keyword. Easy! This unloads the burden in recruitment process. There is no need to pull out from the boxes and take five hours looking just for one record. With the database, everything you need a can be accessed instantly. Keeping this records filed is at times very useful for reference purposes. By looking at the database, applicants who are shortlisted can be called in case the choices were in a no-show or no-call. The maximum years to keep the records would at least for five years. References would matter from time to time.
Tip 2
x—————-x
While in recruitment, every applicant woes, sometimes there are too good to be true. Contact references written on the face of the resume or application form is vital. It is best that before undergoing the process of recruitment, requiring the applicants to provide for references can be helpful.
When references are supplied, you can call on each for verification. The mere interest on the applicants does not alter the importance of having the reference. The latter can serve as an important link in the future. Some references can be future partners or some would probably be the best prospects for future job recruitment.
Tip 3
x——————————-x
Get in touch with the data periodically. With the systematized data collection, news, updates and informations can be sent to applicants in a speedier and more systematized manner. It is easy to inform them whether they got the job or they failed in the recruitment process, in case call is not successful. For sure, you would not want your recruitment process be the talked of the town because of inadequacies. It even makes recruitment formal.
Tip 4
x——————————-x
In advertising your recruitment, the Internet is a good choice. Employed and unemployed, the web reaches both. Getting a wide range of market is positive. With millions of searchers going online, the best potential candidate might be one of them on the look for a job. Great ad would be a nice strategy to lure them. It is one way to sell your company and attract applicants.
Tip 5
x—————————–x
Since job listing would make you one step closer to a good recruitment deal, the need to let the applicant know what is expected from them is great. An ad that would be appealing catches good fish.
Tip 6
x—————————x
An effective job recruitment process not only is the process of hiring the best applicant. When good people shift from their job to yours, you are selling good career opportunities. This can be an avenue for a healthier and more successful start of professional development for both. The next time that recruitment takes place, it would be easier to sell opportunities based from the experience.
Tip 7
x———————————x
It is not bad to post on different sites and different categories. The more job listings you have the more chances of getting the best. Searchers sometimes shift from one site to another without browsing the rest. If the job is listed in not just one site, the more opportunities for recruitment to take place.
Tip 8
x———————————–x
Try creating a website. This can make your recruitment standout. When applicants learns that you’ve got all the aces. They will surely be walking towards your doorstep wanting to be recruited.
x———————x
By: Oz Free – Jobs
About the Author:
Looking for a free resume posting site? Oz Free Jobs can meet what you are looking for. Posting resume online can be done in this career center.
State Laws and Employer I-9 Employment Verification Responsibilities
es have enacted “mini-I-9” laws. Employers, especially companies that operate in more than one state, must closely monitor their compliance with the employment eligibility and verification laws for each state in which they do business.
The most common regulation states have imposed on businesses in recent years is requiring employers to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm workers’ immigration status and employment eligibility or work authorization, specifically illegal immigrant employment eligibility, work authorization and immigration status.
E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by Department of Homeland Security (DHS/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-Verify is currently free to employers and is available in all 50 states. E-Verify provides an automated link to federal databases to help employers determine employment eligibility or work authorization of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers.
Employers or “Designated Agents” (e.g., payroll companies) must register online and agree to the terms of participation to use E-Verify. [Registration includes agreeing to the DHS/Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). A discussion of the ICE E-Verify MOU is outside the scope of this post.]
E-Verify will soon be required of all federal contractors. DHS is now promulgating “final” E-Verify regs. I present an E-Verify overview and update in this post.
(The National Conference of State Legislatures does a remarkable job of monitoring these new developments and I include a variation of their chart and summary of the new state legislation below.)
Review of Relevant State Laws
State Laws Requiring Use of E-Verify
Arizona
Arizona
The Arizona Fair and Legal Employment Act (HB 2779), enacted in 2007, prohibits employers from knowingly hiring unauthorized workers and requires all employers to use the Basic Pilot Program to verify employment eligibility. It establishes substantial penalties and threatens noncompliant employers with suspension and potential revocation of their business licenses. Effective date Jan. 1, 2008.
Colorado
Colorado HB 1343 (signed 6/6/2006) prohibits state agencies from entering into contract agreements with contractors who knowingly employ illegal immigrants and requires prospective contractors to verify legal work status of all employees. The contractor must confirm that the Basic Pilot Program has been used to verify the status of all employees. If the contractor discovers that an illegal alien is employed, the contractor must alert the state agency within 3 days.
Georgia
The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, SB 529, covered employment, enforcement, and benefits and was signed by the Governor on April 17, 2006. The bill requires public employers, contractors and subcontractors with 500 or more employees to participate in E-Verify for all new employees beginning July 1, 2007. The law is phased in for public employers, contractors and subcontractors with 100 or more employees effective July 1, 2008; and for all employers by July 1, 2009.
Idaho Executive Order
On December 13, 2006, Governor Jim Risch issued an executive order requiring that state agencies participate in the E-Verify system. Also, all workers employed to the state through contractors must also be from companies that have been verified to have eligible employees.
Minnesota Executive Order
Governor Tim Pawlenty issued an executive order on Jan. 7, 2008, stating that all hiring authorities within the executive branch of state government as well as any employer seeking to enter into a state contract worth in excess of $50,000 must participate in the E-Verify program. The Executive Order’s effective date is January 29, 2008.
Mississippi
Mississippi SB2988 (signed 3/17/08) requires public and private employers to participate in E-Verify. The phase-in period is: all government agencies and businesses with more than 250 employees by July 1, 2008; companies with 100 to 250 employees by July 1, 2009; those with 30 to 100 employees by July 1, 2010; and all remaining companies by July 1, 2011. An employer violating the law is subject to the cancellation of public contracts, ineligibility for contracts for up to three years, and loss of business license for up to one year. The law also makes it a felony to accept or perform employment knowing or in reckless disregard of the immigrant’s ineligibility to work, with penalties from one to five years of imprisonment and/or $1,000 to $10,000 in fines.
North Carolina
All state agencies, offices, and universities must use E-Verify, required by SB 1523 in 2006. This applies to employees hired on or after January 1, 2007, except for employees of local education agencies hired on or after March 1, 2007.
Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 (HB 1804) addressed multiple issues: transporting and harboring, driver’s licenses, public benefits, law enforcement and employment. It made it a felony to transport or harbor unauthorized immigrants, with exceptions for health or benefits guaranteed by federal law. It requires public employers, contractors and subcontractors to participate in a federal electronic employment verification system and requires income tax withholding for independent contractors who do not have valid Social Security numbers. The law became effective Nov. 1, 2007.
Rhode Island Executive Order
On March 27, 2008,Governor Carcieri issued an executive order requiring executive agencies to use E-Verify; and for all persons and businesses, including grantees, contractors and their subcontractors and vendors to use E-Verify.
Utah
SB 81 was signed into law 3/13/08. The law address multiple issues, including driver’s licenses, law enforcement, harboring and transporting, public benefits and employment. It requires public employers to register and use the Basic Pilot program for new employees; state contractors must use Basic Pilot effective July 1, 2009. The law makes it a Class A misdemeanor to conceal, harbor, transport or shelter undocumented immigrants, though church, charitable and humanitarian assistance groups are exempted.
Encourages the Use of E-Verify (1)
Tennessee
HB 729, signed into law on June 26, 2007 and effective January 1, 2008 states that employers who “knowingly employ, recruit or refer for a fee for employment an illegal alien” are subject to a temporary suspension of their business license; repeat offenders are subject to a one-year suspension. Employers who comply with the requirements of the current I-9 process or who verify new hires through the E-Verify within 14 days of employment are shielded from sanctions.
One State Limits The Use of E-Verify
Illinois
Illinois enacted HB 1744, which bars Illinois companies from enrolling in any Employment Eligibility Verification System until accuracy and timeliness issues are resolved. Illinois also enacted HB 1743, which creates privacy and antidiscrimination protections for workers if employers participating in E-Verify don’t follow the program’s procedures.
State Laws Targeting Employers On Immigration Status
Current Litigation Over State Laws: Federal Pre-emption
Two lawsuits now making their way through the federal court system could restrict states’ ability to continue to crack down on businesses that hire unauthorized workers. One is a court challenge to the 2007 Arizona employer sanctions law filed by a coalition of Arizona trade groups. In February, a federal judge denied the coalition’s request to delay implementation of the law with a temporary restraining order, and the plaintiffs took their case to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments are scheduled for this summer and a decision is expected in the fall.
Another lawsuit making its way through the federal courts originated last year in Hazleton, PA, where a local ordinance enacted in 2006 denies business permits to employers who hire illegal immigrants and fines landlords who rent to them. In a ruling issued last summer, a federal judge struck down the Hazleton ordinance, saying it treads on federal terrain and violates illegal immigrants’ constitutional right to due process.
The town is appealing the decision, and the case will be heard in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals this summer. A decision in this case is also expected in the fall.
If the two appellate courts hand down similar rulings; either both upholding the local laws, or both asserting federal authority, the battle over federal preemption could end there. But if the courts hand down opposing decisions – one supporting state authority and the other backing federal preemption – the debate will likely go to the Supreme Court. The consequence: no clear direction for state lawmakers for at least a year or two.
Many legal experts say the bills being passed in state capitals are not constitutional, and many of the new laws are being challenged in court. The U.S. Constitution gives federal law “supremacy” over state statutes. My personal understanding of the fundamental “pre-emption” issue is that the federal laws do not pre-empt these state laws. Frankly, this is a very complex constitutional issue.
The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) explicitly prohibits states from imposing sanctions on businesses that hire unauthorized workers. But one phrase in the 1986 law – a seven-word parenthesis allowing states some leeway in the matter of “licenses and similar laws” – has created a contested gray area.
Many states have taken the IRCA parenthesis to mean they have the authority to suspend or revoke the business licenses of employers who hire unauthorized workers. Businesses and many constitutional lawyers disagree.
“You have this complex overlay of statutes and regulations and court cases, and you’ve got this federalism question of what has traditionally been federal power and what the states can do,” Jan Ting, a Temple University law professor, told the Washington Post. “There could not be an area of law that is less clear than this.”
Because states have until recently stayed away from imposing sanctions for immigration violations, federal preemption has rarely been tested and few court precedents exist.
Private Rights of Action
While E-Verify requirements have so far proven the most popular method to deter the hiring of illegal immigrants, some states are beginning to make use of another tool: giving employees a “private right of action.” Oklahoma was the first state to pass such legislation, in 2007, allowing fired U.S. workers to sue their employers if unauthorized workers were subsequently found to be working in their place. Mississippi, Utah and South Carolina followed with similar provisions this year, allowing fired workers to sue if they are then replaced by illegal immigrants. Some say the laws could open businesses to lawsuits if they employ any unauthorized workers, whether or not they have hired them to replace fired legal workers. Other states are expected to adopt this approach next year.
Also still in place are provisions mandating that all businesses in Arizona enroll in E-Verify and allowing prosecutors to investigate anonymous tips made against businesses alleged to be employing unauthorized workers.
State Felony Laws
Companies should also be concerned about a Mississippi law that makes it a felony for illegal immigrants to accept unauthorized employment. Violators are subject to imprisonment from one to five years and fines of between $1,000 and $10,000. And while the measure seemingly applies only to unauthorized workers, if I had clients who do business in Mississippi I would be strongly cautioning them. I have many clients, both individual and business, where the kind employer assists driving the very good employee to work because the employee does not have a valid state driver license because s/he lacks immigration status. In my opinion a business can be prosecuted for aiding and abetting a felony or harboring a felon under this law.
Oklahoma also imposed felony penalties, in 2007 – in that case, against anyone caught transporting, concealing, harboring or sheltering illegal immigrants in any location,
including any building or means of transportation. Utah, Missouri and South Carolina passed similar measures this year, and many fear the provisions could be used against employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers.
By: Gerald P. Goulder
About the Author:
The most common regulation states have imposed on businesses in recent years is requiring employers to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm workers’ immigration status and employment eligibility or work authorization, specifically illegal immigrant employment eligibility, work authorization and immigration status.
E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by Department of Homeland Security (DHS/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-Verify is currently free to employers and is available in all 50 states. E-Verify provides an automated link to federal databases to help employers determine employment eligibility or work authorization of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers.
Employers or “Designated Agents” (e.g., payroll companies) must register online and agree to the terms of participation to use E-Verify. [Registration includes agreeing to the DHS/Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). A discussion of the ICE E-Verify MOU is outside the scope of this post.]
E-Verify will soon be required of all federal contractors. DHS is now promulgating “final” E-Verify regs. I present an E-Verify overview and update in this post.
(The National Conference of State Legislatures does a remarkable job of monitoring these new developments and I include a variation of their chart and summary of the new state legislation below.)
Review of Relevant State Laws
State Laws Requiring Use of E-Verify
Arizona
Arizona
The Arizona Fair and Legal Employment Act (HB 2779), enacted in 2007, prohibits employers from knowingly hiring unauthorized workers and requires all employers to use the Basic Pilot Program to verify employment eligibility. It establishes substantial penalties and threatens noncompliant employers with suspension and potential revocation of their business licenses. Effective date Jan. 1, 2008.
Colorado
Colorado HB 1343 (signed 6/6/2006) prohibits state agencies from entering into contract agreements with contractors who knowingly employ illegal immigrants and requires prospective contractors to verify legal work status of all employees. The contractor must confirm that the Basic Pilot Program has been used to verify the status of all employees. If the contractor discovers that an illegal alien is employed, the contractor must alert the state agency within 3 days.
Georgia
The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, SB 529, covered employment, enforcement, and benefits and was signed by the Governor on April 17, 2006. The bill requires public employers, contractors and subcontractors with 500 or more employees to participate in E-Verify for all new employees beginning July 1, 2007. The law is phased in for public employers, contractors and subcontractors with 100 or more employees effective July 1, 2008; and for all employers by July 1, 2009.
Idaho Executive Order
On December 13, 2006, Governor Jim Risch issued an executive order requiring that state agencies participate in the E-Verify system. Also, all workers employed to the state through contractors must also be from companies that have been verified to have eligible employees.
Minnesota Executive Order
Governor Tim Pawlenty issued an executive order on Jan. 7, 2008, stating that all hiring authorities within the executive branch of state government as well as any employer seeking to enter into a state contract worth in excess of $50,000 must participate in the E-Verify program. The Executive Order’s effective date is January 29, 2008.
Mississippi
Mississippi SB2988 (signed 3/17/08) requires public and private employers to participate in E-Verify. The phase-in period is: all government agencies and businesses with more than 250 employees by July 1, 2008; companies with 100 to 250 employees by July 1, 2009; those with 30 to 100 employees by July 1, 2010; and all remaining companies by July 1, 2011. An employer violating the law is subject to the cancellation of public contracts, ineligibility for contracts for up to three years, and loss of business license for up to one year. The law also makes it a felony to accept or perform employment knowing or in reckless disregard of the immigrant’s ineligibility to work, with penalties from one to five years of imprisonment and/or $1,000 to $10,000 in fines.
North Carolina
All state agencies, offices, and universities must use E-Verify, required by SB 1523 in 2006. This applies to employees hired on or after January 1, 2007, except for employees of local education agencies hired on or after March 1, 2007.
Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 (HB 1804) addressed multiple issues: transporting and harboring, driver’s licenses, public benefits, law enforcement and employment. It made it a felony to transport or harbor unauthorized immigrants, with exceptions for health or benefits guaranteed by federal law. It requires public employers, contractors and subcontractors to participate in a federal electronic employment verification system and requires income tax withholding for independent contractors who do not have valid Social Security numbers. The law became effective Nov. 1, 2007.
Rhode Island Executive Order
On March 27, 2008,Governor Carcieri issued an executive order requiring executive agencies to use E-Verify; and for all persons and businesses, including grantees, contractors and their subcontractors and vendors to use E-Verify.
Utah
SB 81 was signed into law 3/13/08. The law address multiple issues, including driver’s licenses, law enforcement, harboring and transporting, public benefits and employment. It requires public employers to register and use the Basic Pilot program for new employees; state contractors must use Basic Pilot effective July 1, 2009. The law makes it a Class A misdemeanor to conceal, harbor, transport or shelter undocumented immigrants, though church, charitable and humanitarian assistance groups are exempted.
Encourages the Use of E-Verify (1)
Tennessee
HB 729, signed into law on June 26, 2007 and effective January 1, 2008 states that employers who “knowingly employ, recruit or refer for a fee for employment an illegal alien” are subject to a temporary suspension of their business license; repeat offenders are subject to a one-year suspension. Employers who comply with the requirements of the current I-9 process or who verify new hires through the E-Verify within 14 days of employment are shielded from sanctions.
One State Limits The Use of E-Verify
Illinois
Illinois enacted HB 1744, which bars Illinois companies from enrolling in any Employment Eligibility Verification System until accuracy and timeliness issues are resolved. Illinois also enacted HB 1743, which creates privacy and antidiscrimination protections for workers if employers participating in E-Verify don’t follow the program’s procedures.
State Laws Targeting Employers On Immigration Status
Current Litigation Over State Laws: Federal Pre-emption
Two lawsuits now making their way through the federal court system could restrict states’ ability to continue to crack down on businesses that hire unauthorized workers. One is a court challenge to the 2007 Arizona employer sanctions law filed by a coalition of Arizona trade groups. In February, a federal judge denied the coalition’s request to delay implementation of the law with a temporary restraining order, and the plaintiffs took their case to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments are scheduled for this summer and a decision is expected in the fall.
Another lawsuit making its way through the federal courts originated last year in Hazleton, PA, where a local ordinance enacted in 2006 denies business permits to employers who hire illegal immigrants and fines landlords who rent to them. In a ruling issued last summer, a federal judge struck down the Hazleton ordinance, saying it treads on federal terrain and violates illegal immigrants’ constitutional right to due process.
The town is appealing the decision, and the case will be heard in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals this summer. A decision in this case is also expected in the fall.
If the two appellate courts hand down similar rulings; either both upholding the local laws, or both asserting federal authority, the battle over federal preemption could end there. But if the courts hand down opposing decisions – one supporting state authority and the other backing federal preemption – the debate will likely go to the Supreme Court. The consequence: no clear direction for state lawmakers for at least a year or two.
Many legal experts say the bills being passed in state capitals are not constitutional, and many of the new laws are being challenged in court. The U.S. Constitution gives federal law “supremacy” over state statutes. My personal understanding of the fundamental “pre-emption” issue is that the federal laws do not pre-empt these state laws. Frankly, this is a very complex constitutional issue.
The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) explicitly prohibits states from imposing sanctions on businesses that hire unauthorized workers. But one phrase in the 1986 law – a seven-word parenthesis allowing states some leeway in the matter of “licenses and similar laws” – has created a contested gray area.
Many states have taken the IRCA parenthesis to mean they have the authority to suspend or revoke the business licenses of employers who hire unauthorized workers. Businesses and many constitutional lawyers disagree.
“You have this complex overlay of statutes and regulations and court cases, and you’ve got this federalism question of what has traditionally been federal power and what the states can do,” Jan Ting, a Temple University law professor, told the Washington Post. “There could not be an area of law that is less clear than this.”
Because states have until recently stayed away from imposing sanctions for immigration violations, federal preemption has rarely been tested and few court precedents exist.
Private Rights of Action
While E-Verify requirements have so far proven the most popular method to deter the hiring of illegal immigrants, some states are beginning to make use of another tool: giving employees a “private right of action.” Oklahoma was the first state to pass such legislation, in 2007, allowing fired U.S. workers to sue their employers if unauthorized workers were subsequently found to be working in their place. Mississippi, Utah and South Carolina followed with similar provisions this year, allowing fired workers to sue if they are then replaced by illegal immigrants. Some say the laws could open businesses to lawsuits if they employ any unauthorized workers, whether or not they have hired them to replace fired legal workers. Other states are expected to adopt this approach next year.
Also still in place are provisions mandating that all businesses in Arizona enroll in E-Verify and allowing prosecutors to investigate anonymous tips made against businesses alleged to be employing unauthorized workers.
State Felony Laws
Companies should also be concerned about a Mississippi law that makes it a felony for illegal immigrants to accept unauthorized employment. Violators are subject to imprisonment from one to five years and fines of between $1,000 and $10,000. And while the measure seemingly applies only to unauthorized workers, if I had clients who do business in Mississippi I would be strongly cautioning them. I have many clients, both individual and business, where the kind employer assists driving the very good employee to work because the employee does not have a valid state driver license because s/he lacks immigration status. In my opinion a business can be prosecuted for aiding and abetting a felony or harboring a felon under this law.
Oklahoma also imposed felony penalties, in 2007 – in that case, against anyone caught transporting, concealing, harboring or sheltering illegal immigrants in any location,
including any building or means of transportation. Utah, Missouri and South Carolina passed similar measures this year, and many fear the provisions could be used against employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers.
By: Gerald P. Goulder
About the Author:
About Immigration Attorney Gerald Goulder
I have been a licensed attorney and counselor at law for over 28 years. I practice exclusively immigration and visa law for individuals, families and businesses, not just in North Carolina, but in many states and throughout the world.
