Immigration Reform and Control Act
The Act applies to Patricia’s restaurant. According to EEOC (2013), an employer has to have a certain number of employees to be covered by the act, and the number varies according to the type of employer. Regarding citizenship and coverage, the act prohibits any form of discrimination based on national origin by smaller employers. These are employers with 4 to 14 employees. Also, according to EEOC (2013), Private businesses are covered by the act if they have 15 or more employees who have worked for at least 20 calendar weeks. Therefore, Patricia’s business has 15 employees and is covered by the act.
Hiring an Authorized Alien
If an employer does not comply with Form 1-9 requirements and goes on to hire an unauthorized alien, criminal and civil penalties exist for this kind of hiring. It is illegal for a person to knowingly recruit, hire or refer any alien who is not authorized to work. Any employer who is in violation of these laws may face penalties of $250 to $2000 fine for every alien, $2000 to $5000 for any worker that the employer has previously been in violation and $3000 to $10000 for each person if the employer was subject to more than one cease and desist order (Toth, 2012). Criminal penalties include a fine or imprisonment up to 6 months, or both.
I agree with these consequences due to various reasons. First, such kind of hiring only seeks to take advantage of the unauthorized aliens and thus employers find an easy way of exploiting the workers. Also, the practice defrauds the government, while at the same time it renders many of people in the local populace jobless. This leads to dishonest employers who do not maintain a healthy work environment, and ultimately impact negatively on the economy.
Policies and Procedures
In order to ensure compliance with IRCA, Patricia should verify both the employment eligibility and identity of all regular, temporary agency personnel, temporary employees and student employees hired. The employer also needs to complete and retain the Form 1-9 that documents this verification. Patricia needs to ensure that all employees complete this form within the first 3 days of employment.
References
EEOC. (2013) Coverage. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2013. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/coverage.cfm
Toth, M. (2012, October 19) Employment Law Basics: The IRCA. Retrieved from http://www.tlnt.com/2012/10/19/employment-law-basics-the-immigration-reform-and- control-act/
