Archive for February, 2008
10 Tips for Writing a Good Resume
Writing a good resume takes time, patience and a willingness to revise, rework and edit. There are also ten basic tips for writing a good resume that are simple, easy to follow and important in the final product. By following these ten tips for writing a good resume you can be assured that your resume will be noticed and reviewed by employers.
1. Make the resume look appealing to the reader. While this may seem straight forward, most resumes are cramped, difficult to read, overflowing with detail and illogical in their development.
2. Keep to the basics. Don’t add a bunch of information that is not relevant to the position you are apply for. Most resumes are designed for a blanket type application; this often means that you are unable to highlight the specific skills that match this one job. Writing a good resume may mean changing your resume slightly for each application, rather than just changing the covering letter.
3. Have an interesting, factual and informative covering letter. Specify your qualifications, education and experience without just summarizing the whole resume. The covering letter should lead the employer to want to read the whole resume.
4. Use white space as much as text. White space can break up the points, help to highlight information, and make the resume easy to read and stylish without all the additional lines, shading and graphics seen on some contemporary types of resumes.
5. Double check spelling and grammar; then check again. There is nothing worse or worse looking than spelling something wrong on your resume or covering letter. This includes the employers name, business name or any other information.
6. Never use technical jargon or any type of industry or local slang on a resume. You have been a manager, not a boss.
7. Use bullets and phrases to minimize the amount of reading required by the employer. Shorten to the minimum number of words while still giving a clear picture.
8. Writing a good resume includes doing a bit of research on the company. By knowing some of the company mission statements or goals you can incorporate these into your resume if possible.
9. Use a plain, typeface font, never a decorative or whimsical font. This can send the wrong message or decrease the readability of the resume.
10. Avoid making your resume too long. Two pages is considered a good maximum, but for professionals that have extensive experience this may simply not be enough room. Writing a good resume is more focused on the need to provide relevant information rather than a specific page number.
Using the above 10 tips will help with writing a good resume. There is additional information on the internet, in books, or even through resume service to help you develop a resume you can be proud of. Bring your career to the next level.
By: John Moore
About the Author:
1. Make the resume look appealing to the reader. While this may seem straight forward, most resumes are cramped, difficult to read, overflowing with detail and illogical in their development.
2. Keep to the basics. Don’t add a bunch of information that is not relevant to the position you are apply for. Most resumes are designed for a blanket type application; this often means that you are unable to highlight the specific skills that match this one job. Writing a good resume may mean changing your resume slightly for each application, rather than just changing the covering letter.
3. Have an interesting, factual and informative covering letter. Specify your qualifications, education and experience without just summarizing the whole resume. The covering letter should lead the employer to want to read the whole resume.
4. Use white space as much as text. White space can break up the points, help to highlight information, and make the resume easy to read and stylish without all the additional lines, shading and graphics seen on some contemporary types of resumes.
5. Double check spelling and grammar; then check again. There is nothing worse or worse looking than spelling something wrong on your resume or covering letter. This includes the employers name, business name or any other information.
6. Never use technical jargon or any type of industry or local slang on a resume. You have been a manager, not a boss.
7. Use bullets and phrases to minimize the amount of reading required by the employer. Shorten to the minimum number of words while still giving a clear picture.
8. Writing a good resume includes doing a bit of research on the company. By knowing some of the company mission statements or goals you can incorporate these into your resume if possible.
9. Use a plain, typeface font, never a decorative or whimsical font. This can send the wrong message or decrease the readability of the resume.
10. Avoid making your resume too long. Two pages is considered a good maximum, but for professionals that have extensive experience this may simply not be enough room. Writing a good resume is more focused on the need to provide relevant information rather than a specific page number.
Using the above 10 tips will help with writing a good resume. There is additional information on the internet, in books, or even through resume service to help you develop a resume you can be proud of. Bring your career to the next level.
By: John Moore
About the Author:
Get more information about employment and how to write a resume.
Search Engine Optimization Tips and Techniques
Search Engine Optimization is a process which provides improved, preferential positioning in major search engines and directories, including Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Many companies feel that to get onto page one is next to impossible and that search engine optimization is a mystery. Search Engine Optimization is something that everyone talks about but few people really understand. Search engine optimization is just a matter of understanding what search engines look for when they visit your site. Organic or Natural Search Engine OptimizationOrganic or natural search engine optimization is the process of a comprehensive analysis of keywords and phrases and the implementation of ethical programming techniques for optimal natural (non-sponsored) placement in search engine results. The option of adWords is very good to a certain point and in general the Search Engine Optimization is the tool that gives the ROI for a long time for each website.
The world wide web is a highly competitive market. Companies vie for the attention of billions of internet users in the search for better revenue. A lynch pin to the internet marketing war is the search engine.
Search engines are internet venues where billions of people congregate to search for information. The most prominent search engine giants are Google and Yahoo. The kind of traffic these dot-com companies receive per hour is phenomenal.
So naturally, companies would gravitate towards placing their links and sites in an attempt to garner more visits to their web sites.
In order to maximize ranking and placement, companies have used tools such as search engine optimization or SEO. Search engine optimization is the method or process of improving a web site’s ranking in a search engine listing.
Legitimate search engine optimization practices focus on the improvement of a page’s ranking in the search engine list by improving site content, usability and using legitimate methos of promotion through web phenomena such as viral marketing.
Search engines all use complex algorithms in keeping their relevancy in the web and to keep illegal and abusive search engine optimization methods from prospering. However, “black hat” SEO users will always be around so it is expected that search engine giant such as Google and Yahoo will continue to make more complex algorithms to filter the garbage out.
Organic searches are searches conducted by web users in a search engine that is free from solicitations. A study from Jupiter Media stated that 5 out of 6 commercial online purchases came from organic searches versus paid online ads.
This has made SEO much more in demand in creating revenue for companies as SEO is not a paid ad but a method of intrinsically improving content.
Here are a few tips on improving content for a much more improved result in organic searches:
1. Expertise. Follow your strengths. Sites you set up must be on subject you consider yourself an expert on. People can smell an amateur a mile away.
2. Plan the site. A good layout for the site can improve usability. This in turn will not unnecessarily aggravate the browser.
3. Research. Check out the competition and see what they have set up. See what works and what does not. If possible try to communicate with users in forums and get feedback on what should or can be improved further.
4. Decide on important keywords. Decide on the most important keywords to use for your sight. Include these keywords in the metatags, copy page, page title, and file names.
5. The Search Engine is your friend. Make friends with your search engine and don’t give it a hard time. Being nice and friendly to it will make its job easier to serve your site up to your target audience.
6. Focus. Focus on the topic at hand and nothing else. The rule is one topic per page.
7. Join the directories. Directories are repositories of knowledge done by human hands while search engine are huge databases collected by mostly machine methods. The relevancy of your page when joining the right directory may shoot through the roof. Of course, make sure you know what you are talking about.
8. Start a linking campaign. A most effective SEO method. This is a must to do. Ask your allies, strategic partners, friends and acquaintances to place your site’s URL link on their sites. With a short description this can draw traffic from other sites and increase exposure. Google especially ranks the importance of its sites by the number of sites linked to it.
9. Repetition is the key to victory. Keep repeating the above tips, supporting and increasing what works and killing what does not as fast as possible until the desired result is achieved.
In the world of search engine optimization, content matters a lot. If a site has amateur or worse falsified information, fewer and fewer browsers will want to visit it. They will even spread bad news faster than good news so expect a garbage site to be ignored even in a week’s time.
A company mostly relies on its official web site to build a reliable customer base, to interact and get feedback from customers, and to use the site for advertising purposes.
With search engine optimization, some techniques are employed so that a web site will be listed on top of the list of results when a user types in a keyword by going to Google, Yahoo, MSN, or other search engines.
Emerging on top of a search list would lead more business your way that is why search engine optimization or SEO tactics are employed.
Some companies employ the services of establishments or individuals who deal with search engine optimization.
This would involve the development of a more informative and user-friendly web site. It may also include pay-per-click or adwords services, such as the one offered by Google.
Another thing that can yield positive results at a lower cost, as compared to an adword campaign, is optimizing a web site for organic search.
This would mainly require keyword density which would result to more traffic going to your web site.
In effect, you will have an added clientele and this should lead more business your way.
If you would like to have a hands-on experience with search engine optimization and you would not like to get a third-party SEO service provider, there are some techniques which are easy to learn so that you can do it yourself. Take a look at the following:
1. Take a lot of time with developing your web site’s content.
For most web sites, content is the key. When writing the content of your web pages, insert vital keywords which relate to the products and services that your company offers.
Make it brief and concise, yet informative.
You might see that Internet users do not actually read a web site’s content word-for-word.
They just skim through the text and concentrate on the articles that they need and the data which they find interesting. A 600-word article may be too boring or too long for a user to read.
Keep your facts up-to-date so that users will visit your web site more often. Do not forget toinclude a lot of helpful links, articles and guides that users can forward to another user and add to your customer base.
2. Make the overall design user friendly.
In most cases, the rule the simpler, the better applies. Do not design your web site in an overly-complicated way that users will find it too “frightening” to browse through.
Adapt the design to your target market. If your target audience is of a younger age, make sure that the colors and designs are funky, youthful and attention-grabbing.
For a more mature audience, you can use subdued colors and have a more elegant theme and overall web site design.
3. Vary the keyword for each individual web page.
Think of every possible keywords or phrases that will apply to your products and services.
Each user is different and may not necessarily use the keyword that you expect them to type in the search bar. Search engines offer tools which will guide you through finding the correct keywords for search engine optimization.
4. Make sure that your hyper links are visible, accessible and informative.
Providing users with hyperlinks or HTML links which are useful and easy to find is yet another way to optimize your web site.
5. Learn how to lead traffic to your site.
Seek the advise of experts on this field if you do not know how to lead traffic to your site. Develop a plan and learn how to use the necessary tools pull traffic your way.
Gather all the statistical data that you can use to keep your web site on top of the search engines’ list.
Vary your web site’s contents and keywords to adapt to the current trend. If there is a particular word or phrase that you have not used when searching for keywords, use it instead to lead more traffic your way.
Be flexible enough to change the web site’s contents and fulfill the ever-changing needs of the online users.
All in all, you would have your work cut out for you if you want to employ do-it-yourself search engine optimization techniques.
By: John DeLellis
About the Author:
The world wide web is a highly competitive market. Companies vie for the attention of billions of internet users in the search for better revenue. A lynch pin to the internet marketing war is the search engine.
Search engines are internet venues where billions of people congregate to search for information. The most prominent search engine giants are Google and Yahoo. The kind of traffic these dot-com companies receive per hour is phenomenal.
So naturally, companies would gravitate towards placing their links and sites in an attempt to garner more visits to their web sites.
In order to maximize ranking and placement, companies have used tools such as search engine optimization or SEO. Search engine optimization is the method or process of improving a web site’s ranking in a search engine listing.
Legitimate search engine optimization practices focus on the improvement of a page’s ranking in the search engine list by improving site content, usability and using legitimate methos of promotion through web phenomena such as viral marketing.
Search engines all use complex algorithms in keeping their relevancy in the web and to keep illegal and abusive search engine optimization methods from prospering. However, “black hat” SEO users will always be around so it is expected that search engine giant such as Google and Yahoo will continue to make more complex algorithms to filter the garbage out.
Organic searches are searches conducted by web users in a search engine that is free from solicitations. A study from Jupiter Media stated that 5 out of 6 commercial online purchases came from organic searches versus paid online ads.
This has made SEO much more in demand in creating revenue for companies as SEO is not a paid ad but a method of intrinsically improving content.
Here are a few tips on improving content for a much more improved result in organic searches:
1. Expertise. Follow your strengths. Sites you set up must be on subject you consider yourself an expert on. People can smell an amateur a mile away.
2. Plan the site. A good layout for the site can improve usability. This in turn will not unnecessarily aggravate the browser.
3. Research. Check out the competition and see what they have set up. See what works and what does not. If possible try to communicate with users in forums and get feedback on what should or can be improved further.
4. Decide on important keywords. Decide on the most important keywords to use for your sight. Include these keywords in the metatags, copy page, page title, and file names.
5. The Search Engine is your friend. Make friends with your search engine and don’t give it a hard time. Being nice and friendly to it will make its job easier to serve your site up to your target audience.
6. Focus. Focus on the topic at hand and nothing else. The rule is one topic per page.
7. Join the directories. Directories are repositories of knowledge done by human hands while search engine are huge databases collected by mostly machine methods. The relevancy of your page when joining the right directory may shoot through the roof. Of course, make sure you know what you are talking about.
8. Start a linking campaign. A most effective SEO method. This is a must to do. Ask your allies, strategic partners, friends and acquaintances to place your site’s URL link on their sites. With a short description this can draw traffic from other sites and increase exposure. Google especially ranks the importance of its sites by the number of sites linked to it.
9. Repetition is the key to victory. Keep repeating the above tips, supporting and increasing what works and killing what does not as fast as possible until the desired result is achieved.
In the world of search engine optimization, content matters a lot. If a site has amateur or worse falsified information, fewer and fewer browsers will want to visit it. They will even spread bad news faster than good news so expect a garbage site to be ignored even in a week’s time.
A company mostly relies on its official web site to build a reliable customer base, to interact and get feedback from customers, and to use the site for advertising purposes.
With search engine optimization, some techniques are employed so that a web site will be listed on top of the list of results when a user types in a keyword by going to Google, Yahoo, MSN, or other search engines.
Emerging on top of a search list would lead more business your way that is why search engine optimization or SEO tactics are employed.
Some companies employ the services of establishments or individuals who deal with search engine optimization.
This would involve the development of a more informative and user-friendly web site. It may also include pay-per-click or adwords services, such as the one offered by Google.
Another thing that can yield positive results at a lower cost, as compared to an adword campaign, is optimizing a web site for organic search.
This would mainly require keyword density which would result to more traffic going to your web site.
In effect, you will have an added clientele and this should lead more business your way.
If you would like to have a hands-on experience with search engine optimization and you would not like to get a third-party SEO service provider, there are some techniques which are easy to learn so that you can do it yourself. Take a look at the following:
1. Take a lot of time with developing your web site’s content.
For most web sites, content is the key. When writing the content of your web pages, insert vital keywords which relate to the products and services that your company offers.
Make it brief and concise, yet informative.
You might see that Internet users do not actually read a web site’s content word-for-word.
They just skim through the text and concentrate on the articles that they need and the data which they find interesting. A 600-word article may be too boring or too long for a user to read.
Keep your facts up-to-date so that users will visit your web site more often. Do not forget toinclude a lot of helpful links, articles and guides that users can forward to another user and add to your customer base.
2. Make the overall design user friendly.
In most cases, the rule the simpler, the better applies. Do not design your web site in an overly-complicated way that users will find it too “frightening” to browse through.
Adapt the design to your target market. If your target audience is of a younger age, make sure that the colors and designs are funky, youthful and attention-grabbing.
For a more mature audience, you can use subdued colors and have a more elegant theme and overall web site design.
3. Vary the keyword for each individual web page.
Think of every possible keywords or phrases that will apply to your products and services.
Each user is different and may not necessarily use the keyword that you expect them to type in the search bar. Search engines offer tools which will guide you through finding the correct keywords for search engine optimization.
4. Make sure that your hyper links are visible, accessible and informative.
Providing users with hyperlinks or HTML links which are useful and easy to find is yet another way to optimize your web site.
5. Learn how to lead traffic to your site.
Seek the advise of experts on this field if you do not know how to lead traffic to your site. Develop a plan and learn how to use the necessary tools pull traffic your way.
Gather all the statistical data that you can use to keep your web site on top of the search engines’ list.
Vary your web site’s contents and keywords to adapt to the current trend. If there is a particular word or phrase that you have not used when searching for keywords, use it instead to lead more traffic your way.
Be flexible enough to change the web site’s contents and fulfill the ever-changing needs of the online users.
All in all, you would have your work cut out for you if you want to employ do-it-yourself search engine optimization techniques.
By: John DeLellis
About the Author:
John DeLellis is a Sales and Marketing and home business professional and is supplying free Splash pages autoresponders and internet marketing resources and training. Sign up for a free membership and newsletter Free online marketing tips everymonth!!
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.
Employment Tips you Can Count on
Worry about unemployment? Fret not, chances are you will be working much of your lifetime.
1 – Don’t have a proper Mindset!
Be it being asked to leave, found a better prospect, or simply wanting to take a break. You have decided to move on from where you were. Keep your composure and plan ahead for what you really want. Most people have lost a job, or will, as companies go through takeovers, company mergers, divestitures, retrenchments of work force, business takeovers, downsizing, company restructuring or become an alleged victim of executive misappropriation such as being accused of alleged CBT of various varieties.
If you haven’t had the composure or opportunity to talk with your former employer on severance pay, or claming certain medical benefits do so in a timely and professional manner. File for unemployment compensation. The sooner you can accept the situation you are in the sooner you can move on. Maintain a sense of humor. If you can show that you can produce results that your employer is looking for you will be a desirable candidate for a position.
2 – Don’t be prepared to deal with Pressure!
If you are financially sound then you probably don’t need a job right away.
While you are employed don’t live beyond your spending means. When you get a raise and you automatically step up you regular spending you haven’t gained financially at all. Credit cards can be the source of all financial woes but, they are a good laon alternative when you can’t get a credit line because you are not employed.
3 – Don’t be prepared before you start looking for employment!
Learn to understand the language and mindset of others and speak their language when applicable when talking about effective ways to land your desired job. There is no guaranteed which approach is the best for any one job seeker but, it will be highly effective when seeking a full time job. Don’t procrastinate, every tomorrow is a chance lost. You need to be pro-active. You are selling yourself to your employer. Think positive and prepare the things you need to say to your employer.
4 – Don’t forget your options!
It may take a while to find the job you really want. Consider a part time job/freelance, working on a trial basis, or a job set up by an agency while you continue your job search. Consider broadening the scope of your employment search. You can apply for different positions than you have experience in. You can travel further than you originally wanted to. It might be beneficial if you consider a different job or lodging location if you haven’t exactly thought about it.
5 – Don’t fail to sharpen your job search skills!
Once you managed to gathered the proper tools required, you will need to conduct market and job research, prepare email, phone or face to face correspondence and have resumes that are tailored to specific job positions and requirements. Good telephone etiquette and proper procedure on the telephone interviews and face to face ones are the most essential.
By: freddy ngiam
About the Author:
1 – Don’t have a proper Mindset!
Be it being asked to leave, found a better prospect, or simply wanting to take a break. You have decided to move on from where you were. Keep your composure and plan ahead for what you really want. Most people have lost a job, or will, as companies go through takeovers, company mergers, divestitures, retrenchments of work force, business takeovers, downsizing, company restructuring or become an alleged victim of executive misappropriation such as being accused of alleged CBT of various varieties.
If you haven’t had the composure or opportunity to talk with your former employer on severance pay, or claming certain medical benefits do so in a timely and professional manner. File for unemployment compensation. The sooner you can accept the situation you are in the sooner you can move on. Maintain a sense of humor. If you can show that you can produce results that your employer is looking for you will be a desirable candidate for a position.
2 – Don’t be prepared to deal with Pressure!
If you are financially sound then you probably don’t need a job right away.
While you are employed don’t live beyond your spending means. When you get a raise and you automatically step up you regular spending you haven’t gained financially at all. Credit cards can be the source of all financial woes but, they are a good laon alternative when you can’t get a credit line because you are not employed.
3 – Don’t be prepared before you start looking for employment!
Learn to understand the language and mindset of others and speak their language when applicable when talking about effective ways to land your desired job. There is no guaranteed which approach is the best for any one job seeker but, it will be highly effective when seeking a full time job. Don’t procrastinate, every tomorrow is a chance lost. You need to be pro-active. You are selling yourself to your employer. Think positive and prepare the things you need to say to your employer.
4 – Don’t forget your options!
It may take a while to find the job you really want. Consider a part time job/freelance, working on a trial basis, or a job set up by an agency while you continue your job search. Consider broadening the scope of your employment search. You can apply for different positions than you have experience in. You can travel further than you originally wanted to. It might be beneficial if you consider a different job or lodging location if you haven’t exactly thought about it.
5 – Don’t fail to sharpen your job search skills!
Once you managed to gathered the proper tools required, you will need to conduct market and job research, prepare email, phone or face to face correspondence and have resumes that are tailored to specific job positions and requirements. Good telephone etiquette and proper procedure on the telephone interviews and face to face ones are the most essential.
By: freddy ngiam
About the Author:
Freddy Ngiam, founder & CEO of www.jobsupermart.com, a job portal in USA/Singapore
