July 6, 2010

Laws to Impact Hiring Practices in 3 States

On July 1, 2010, three states - South Carolina, Mississippi and Utah - had laws go into effect that will significantly impact the hiring practices of employers.

The toughest of the laws belongs to South Carolina, which can now be counted among states like Arizona in terms of imposing strict requirements on employers. Public employers and public contractors in the state are now required to use the E-Verify database to electronically check and verify the employment eligibility of new employees. Moreover, all private employers are now required to use E-Verify or employ only workers who possess or qualify to obtain a South Carolina driver’s license or identification card. Employers who fail to comply could be subject to fines of $100 to $1000 per violation. South Carolina has already audited over 1,500 employers under the part of the law that has applied to employers with more than 100 employees since July 1, 2009. Although the state has waived penalties for many first-time violators pending remediation, it expects to increase audits as small employers become subject to the law statewide.

Furthermore, Mississippi has now entered the third of four phases of its implementation of the Mississippi Employment Protection Act. This law that will eventually require all Mississippi employers to use E-Verify for new hires went into effect for those with 250 or more employees on July 1, 2008, and for those with 100 to 249 employees on July 1, 2009. Employers with 30 to 99 employees must start complying now, while those with fewer than 30 employees still have until July 1, 2011.

Finally, in Utah, either E-Verify or Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) participation is now required for all private employers with 15 or more employees.

The GT Business Immigration and Compliance team will continue to report on the enactment and implementation of various laws impacting employers as more and more states and localities adopt increasingly strict measures aimed at controlling illegal immigration.