Do you employ people who may not be in your country legally?

amother

Beige

Mon, Jun 11 2018, 5:33 pm

My DH manages a company that employs 600 non Jewish workers. He said that by law they may not ask them if they're legal citizens. Maybe they can ask for a working permit or visa but they may not ask outright it they're legal.

WhatFor

Mon, Jun 11 2018, 5:34 pm

SixOfWands wrote:

Good thing you're anonymous, since that's not true.

You are entitled to ask potential employees if they are authorized to work in the US.

If you look at section 11 of the employer handbook, you can actually get yourself into hot water and accused of discrimination if you ask too much during the hiring process.

To avoid issues, employers should generally be asking only for the documents required for I-9 verification and should avoid otherwise asking about status. If an individual is ineligible to work, they won't be able to produce the requisite documents in any case.

SixOfWands

Mon, Jun 11 2018, 5:45 pm

amother wrote:

You cannot discriminate based on national origin. So you cannot ask if someone is a citizen.

Lots of non-citizens are authorized to work in the US. That's what you can ask -- are you legally authorized to work in the US.

amother

Pink

Mon, Jun 11 2018, 8:45 pm

amother wrote:

The terms, employ and per diem are contradictory.

Iow, I'm assuming different requirements between hiring an employee, and hiring an independent contractor. At least when it concerns taxes, benefits, worker's comp, withholding, etc, the distinction is relevant.

I'm also assuming not sure which of the two categories someone like a 5 hour per week cleaning lady, or bi-monthly gardener, would fall into.

heidi

Tue, Jun 12 2018, 1:22 am

Yes.
My cleaning help is honest and hard working. She is here trying to support her children back in Sri Lanka. She says she has some sort of working visa but I did not investigate. I am hoping that my two half days of having her not worth the authorities time and energy.

amother

Papaya

Tue, Jun 12 2018, 5:34 am

In the past we have. Since more Eastern European countries have entered the EU it is very easy to find legal workers. (I live in Western Europe).

We pay our cleaning lady in cash but I guess in theory she can declare her own taxes, just like when you pay cash in a store, they are supposed to pay taxes from it - but you are not responsible if they don't. (I'm not employing a full time cleaning lady, in which case I assume I would be responsible for taxes)

imasoftov

Tue, Jun 12 2018, 6:23 am

Smokey amother wrote:

I was told by an agency that the ones who are smart enough to enter the US legally are highly suspect in terms or morals/honesty etc. ...

Miri7

Wed, Jun 13 2018, 3:40 pm

I paid my nannies over the table - we did the I-9 form. My house cleaners have all been qualified to work in the US. They’re ICs and handle their own taxes. I report the payment via 1099s

amother

Tangerine

Wed, Jun 13 2018, 11:08 pm

amother wrote:

Just curious how an attorney was able to help.

If you are in the US illegally, you need to leave the country in order to obtain a green card. But because you were here illegally, that's a 10-year waiting period.

Now, if you ENTERED legally, but overstayed your legal welcome, and then married a US citizen, maybe. Otherwise, its pretty rare.

A lawyer can definitely help get the process moving.

The company I work for has many illegals. Once they show their paperwork to the boss, he has to accept it, can't ask more questions about legality.

1 coworker admitted to me that he was illegal and was trying to become legal. It took a couple years, then he had to go back to his country of origin for some paperwork that tool a few weeks to do, and when he came back, he had his legal papers. If not for the lawer, it would not have been possible for him to navigate the red tape and legal system.

gamanit

Fri, Jun 15 2018, 3:18 pm

imasoftov wrote:

I don't know if this is what she was referring to but I heard that there's a problem with the way visas are given in certain countries. The visa application is processed in the country of origin. The office staff handling the application problems have a tendency to "lose" applications that weren't accompanied by significant "gifts"

amother

Lime

Fri, Jun 15 2018, 3:22 pm

gamanit wrote:

a visa isn't a green card.

gamanit

Fri, Jun 15 2018, 3:36 pm

amother wrote:

a visa isn't a green card.

Yes but visa is often first step. I'm sure they lose even more permanent residency applications.

WhatFor

Fri, Jun 15 2018, 7:38 pm

gamanit wrote:

People abroad obtain visas to enter the US in US embassies or consulates. Their applications are processed by employees of the US Department of State. I'm sure it's possible for anyone anywhere to be bribed, but I'm just clarifying that you're making these assertions about US federal employees.

gamanit

Fri, Jun 15 2018, 7:45 pm

WhatFor wrote:

Yes, I've heard that the local people hired by embassies and consulates are very corrupt.

imasoftov

Sun, Jun 17 2018, 6:18 pm

gamanit wrote:

But how would applicant A, who bribed embassy employees, be less moral/honest than applicant B, who has a visa that prohibits him or her from working and will be in violation of that if hired?

imasoftov

Sun, Jun 17 2018, 6:23 pm

Smokey amother (the OP) wrote:

Also when she says the legal ones are crooks, I think she means the ones she has tried to deal with from a certain crime-ridden country, she doesn't know about other countries.

Even if, for the sake of argument, workers from Latveria are dishonest, why don't the agencies also have honest workers from Markovia?