Employer Compliance Technical Assistance Letters from OSC
The OSC has provided a valuable resource in sharing their letter responses to various employment eligibility verification compliance inquiries from stakeholders. The topics include: Non-Discrimination Practices, Pre-Employment Inquiries, Form I-9 Document Abuse, SS No-Match Letters, Dishonesty/Falsification Issues, using acceptable language for job postings, and much more.
Here are a few citations:
Re: Question Concerning Re-Verifying Work Authorization when Discrepancies with SS are Discovered: “An employer is only under a duty to investigate further if it knows or has knowledge that would lead a reasonable person to believe that an individual is not authorized to work in the United States. There are many possible reasons for why an employee’s name and Social Security number may not match. Therefore, employers should not draw conclusions about an employee’s work authorization status based solely on information indicating that the employee’s name and Social Security number cannot be found in a system of records-whether the records are directly managed by the Social Security Administration or any other private or public entity. Furthermore, the mere receipt of a no-match letter or other no-match notice does not, standing alone, constitute ‘constructive knowledge’ on the part of an employer that the referenced employee is not work authorized. Only the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is legally authorized to conclusively determine an individual’s authorization to work. OSC also cautions employers against providing an unreasonably short period of time to clear up a Social Security no-match…” It it strongly recommended that you consult with a qualified attorney in employment-related immigration law before jumping to any conclusions that might possibly escalate into a very unpleasant scenario for all parties concerned.
Question re Modifying the List of I-9 Acceptable Documents: “Document abuse occurs when an employer either demands that a worker produce more or different documents than those identified in the Form 1-9 process, or refuses to honor documents tendered that on their face reasonably appear to be genuine, based on national origin or citizenship status. To the extent that an employee either inadvertently or mistakenly indicates an incorrect immigration status in Section 1 of the Form 1-9, the limitation of documents in Section 2 may prevent that employee from presenting valid documents) acceptable for 1-9 purposes. Similarly, if the list excludes one or more documents that an employee of a particular status may possess, the limitation of documents may also prevent that employee from presenting his or her valid documents) acceptable for 1-9 purposes.” We caution you to discuss issues such as this with experienced counsel in employment-related immigration matters before action is taken.
We trust that you will find this information useful as it relates to the enforcement of the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. Please check out a list of our compliance services and solutions. Please be reminded that we invite you to contact our office with your employment-related immigration matters (I-9 audits, training, policy development and more).
About the OSC: The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) enforces the anti-discrimination provision (§ 274B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1324b. his federal law prohibits: 1) citizenship status discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee, 2) national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee, 3) document abuse (unfair documentary practices during the employment eligibility verification, Form I-9, process, and 4) retaliation or intimidation.
Tags: Employment Eligibility Verification, I-9 Anti-Discrimination, I-9 AUDIT, I-9 Document Abuse, I-9 Fines, I-9 Form, I-9 process, I-9 Training, ICE, Legal Workforce, OSC, SS No-Match Letters