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www.ohiorestaurant.org
Fall 2012 Issue
PUBLIC POLICY
“One night, I was yelling at the TV and saying how ridiculous
these laws were that legislators were passing in Washington. My
son, sick of hearing me complain, told me that it was time I got
involved – that I couldn’t hold someone else accountable for
taking action for our industry. That really was my wake-up call.
After that, I decided to get involved with the National Restaurant
Association and attended the NRA’s Public Affairs Conference in
2010. It really was an eye-opening experience that has not only
changed how I defend the industry, but it’s also encouraged me
to get others engaged. There is a lot of power in voting, and it’s
important that we champion our industry.”
Under federal law, employers are required
to verify the identity and employment
eligibility of workers through the use of
the Employment Eligibility Verification
Form I-9 (I-9). The importance of proper
completion and retention of this one-page
document cannot be overemphasized.
Just ask one Dayton-area restaurant that
was recently fined more than $20,000
for failing to comply with employment
eligibility verification requirements.
The Department of Homeland Security’s
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) is responsible for worksite
enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
In 2009, ICE announced a new worksite
enforcement strategy, which signaled a
shift from worksite raids to emphasis
on employer audits and investigations.
The impact of this new strategy is
evident: in 2011, ICE conducted
almost 2,500 I-9 audits, which was
an increase of roughly 2,000 over the
number of I-9 audits in 2008.
Employers in the restaurant industry
should take note of this dramatic increase.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS), food preparation and
serving workers are among the ten largest
occupations in the U.S. The BLS has
also found that, in 2011, foreign-born
workers were significantly more likely to
be employed in food and serving related
occupations than native-born workers. As
a result, the restaurant industry is a prime
target for ICE worksite enforcements.
While the Dayton-area restaurant
learned a lesson on the importance of
immigration law compliance the hard way,
it is not alone. In 2011, ICE assessed
employers with over $10 million in
fines. These fines are a result of non-
compliance penalties ranging from $110
to $1,100 for each paperwork violation.
Yet, civil fines are not the only sanction
available for immigration law violations
– employers may also be debarred from
federal contracts or even arrested. In
fact, as a result of ICE’s increased
employer-focused worksite enforcement,
221 employers were arrested in 2011!
Given the increased scrutiny and serious
consequences of failure to comply
with employment eligibility verification
requirements, what should an employer
do? First, employers are advised to
consult employment counsel to assist with
compliance in this complex area. Legal
counsel can assist with additional steps
that an employer should take, including:
• Conducting an internal I-9 audit.
l
Since an employer generally must
produce documents in response
to an ICE audit request within
three days, it is critical to ensure
that the proper procedures are
in place to comply with any such
request in a timely manner.
l
An audit should include a
review of the procedures for
the completion, correction
and retention of I-9s.
l
If an employer does not
have established policies and
procedures to ensure employment
eligibility verification compliance,
it should implement such
policies and procedures.
• Training employees involved in
the employment eligibility
verification process.
l
After conducting an audit of the
current process and correcting
any deficiencies, an employer
should train its supervisors,
managers, human resources
and other employees involved
in the process to ensure that
they will correctly execute the
I-9 policies and procedures.
ORA Board Member and
Restaurateur Roy Getz
on Why He Got Involved
in ORA/NRA Politics
Enforcement of U.S. Immigration
Laws: Employer Beware
This article from KW&W provides valuable insight on immigration compliance practices
Roy Getz, the CEO of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers of Ohio, understands
the importance of advocacy and defending an industry that fuels Ohio’s
economic engine.