What American Business Owners Need To Know About Hiring Foreign Workers

Over the past few years, a heated debate has raged in the United States regarding immigrant workers. Some consumers are furious at the ideal, while business owners have been able to benefit substantially from low cost workers. As a business owner, it is pertinent to better familiarize yourself with the laws associated with hiring foreign workers in America. If you fail to do so, you may find yourself embroiled in a criminal court case and this could also put your company in jeopardy. Below, you will learn more about the laws aligned with hiring foreign workers.

Getting Governmental Approval

Before hiring a foreign worker, you should make sure you get permission from the appropriate governmental entities. As an employer, you will first need to obtain a certification from the Department of Labor. You will need to fill out a handful of documents and submit them to the United States DOL. Remember that getting acceptance from the DOL doesn’t necessarily mean the worker has been approved. Next, they’ll need to obtain a visa and that will require ensuring that the worker is admissible under the provisions of the INA, Immigration and National Act, of the United States.

Remember that it is never acceptable to hire a foreign worker and pay them under the table! This could result in legal problems and could put you out of business almost instantly.

Verifying Work Authorization

One of the first things you should do, when considering hiring a foreign worker is check the employee’s work authorization. To do this you will need to utilize the Form I-9, which will need to be filled out by the employee not the employer. The I-9 will ask for specific types of information, including immigration status, citizenship, name, address and date of birth.

The Form I-9 must be completed within three days of the initial hire date. Employees are prohibited from requiring the employee to provide a specific form of identification. A document listed under List A can be requested and examined or document from both List B and List C can be utilized instead. Once you sign the Form I-9, you are certifying that the employee is authorized to work in the United States.

Potential Repercussions

Hiring illegals knowingly could result in a handful of stiff penalties. The specific penalties tend to vary from location to location. In Ohio, businesses that break these laws will be hit with a fine ranging anywhere between $110 to $1,100. Hiring someone that is not authorized to work in America could result in you being hit with a $10,000 fine for each employee. You could also face criminal charges and imprisonment. Be sure to fill out an I-9 form within the first three days of hiring the foreign worker!

Hire An Attorney

Depending on what type of business you are in you might already have a company attorney. Maybe you don’t. Whatever the situation is, it is always best to consult with some type of attorney before hiring a foreign worker. The reason you want to do this is, because the attorney will know the law, rules, and regulations that come with hiring a foreign worker. If you miss some aspect of the law and just hire a foreign national it might come back to bite you later in the form of a lawsuit. If you do not currently have an attorney, Eichorn Law employees a great team of lawyers that are well versed in foreign worker disputes.