You have a lot of legalities to consider when seeking new hires in South Carolina. While you should strive to maintain diversity amongst your employees, you want to avoid hiring illegal aliens. However, what if your efforts to avoid hiring unauthorized immigrants makes you look like you discriminate?
Finding reliable workers while following legal recommendations and avoiding discrimination at the same time may present a challenge. However, your effort to simultaneously achieve both fronts may boost your ability to develop an inclusive company culture without compromising your reputation.
Civil vs. criminal violations
You can legally hire immigrants, but only if they meet the requirements identified by the U.S. Government. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, you must request a completed I-9 form that verifies an immigrant’s eligibility to work in the United States. Once completed, you should keep a copy of the form in a secure, but accessible location. You must maintain this legal documentation and verify that it remains updated throughout his or her employment.
If you neglect to request and acquire a completed I-9 form, knowingly hire an unauthorized person, request a fee from your immigrant employees for liability purposes or fail to comply with I-9 requirements, you may face legal consequences for committing civil violations. Such violations may turn criminal if you continually hire illegal immigrants despite former warnings.
Avoiding discrimination
Obviously, you want to avoid discriminating against candidates interested in working for your company. You should never feel concerned about getting into legal trouble for discrimination if the reason you turn a candidate away is that he or she does not have the authorization to work in the United States. Discrimination is only a concern if you refuse to hire an authorized worker based on his or her race, gender, culture or disability among other reasons.
