Immigrant Worker Protection Act
The Immigrant Worker Protect Act (AB 450), went into effect on Jan. 1, 2018, prohibiting employers from releasing employee records or allowing federal immigration agents into nonpublic work areas without a judicial warrant or subpoena.
Designed to prevent workplace raids, this new law falls into some grey areas, forcing businesses to decide between obeying federal law or state law. Should a business choose to follow federal law, the state Labor Commissioner or Attorney General could fine them between $2,000 and $5,000 for a first violation, and between $5,000 and $10,000 for each subsequent violation.
AB 450 requires that businesses, upon receiving a Federal Notice of Inspection (NOI) of Employment Eligibility Verification, post a notice within 72 hours.
The notice must state:
(1) the name of the immigration agency;
(2) the date the employer received the notice of the inspection;
(3) the nature of the inspection to the extent known; and
(4) a copy of the Notice of Inspection of I‐9 Employment Eligibility Verification.
Businesses must also give written notice by hand to the employee and his/her union representative with the following information:
(1) a description of all immigration inspection deficiencies identified in the notice;
(2) the immigration agency’s time period for correcting any potential deficiencies;
(3) the time and date of any meeting to correct any identified deficiencies;
(4) notice that the employee has the right to representation during any employer meeting.
Finally, under AB 450, businesses are prohibited from re-verifying the employment eligibility of a current employee, even if they come across facts or credible information that calls their eligibility into question.
Disclaimer
The blog posts and e-newsletters from Lester & Cantrell, LLP are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Please contact our attorneys to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of and access to this Web site or any of the e-mail links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship between Lester & Cantrell, LLP and the user. Any opinions expressed on our blogs/e-newsletters are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of the firm or any individual attorney.