A San Diego restaurant and catering company’s nine-year history of hiring undocumented workers came to an end in late 2011 when the owner pleaded guilty to federal charges.

A federal court hearing a Fair Labor Standards Act case has ruled that an em­­ployee’s immigration status is irrelevant and can’t be mentioned to the jury.

This was not the year to get sloppy with your I-9 forms. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a record 2,393 audit notices to inspect employers’ I-9s this year, a more than 375% increase from audits in 2008.

Pennsylvanians who knowingly hire illegal immigrants would lose their professional licenses under a bill being considered by the Pennsylvania Legislature. The “one-strike-and-you’re-out” law would yank licenses for first-offense violations.

It’s illegal for employers to use em­­ployees’ undocumented status as an excuse to avoid paying the minimum wage and overtime. But that’s not true in failure-to-hire cases—because if an applicant isn’t authorized to work, the em­­ployer couldn’t hire the worker at all.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will audit almost 4,000 employers this year, checking to see if their I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification records are in order. Whether your company is on the ICE list or you have been lucky enough to avoid scrutiny until now, it is important to understand what an audit involves and how it may affect your organization.

The students thought they were signing up for a cultural exchange program in which they would travel to Pennsylvania to work and experience life in Hershey. Instead they ended up working in warehouses preparing Hershey products for shipping. Along with members of the AFL-CIO, they recently protested outside the warehouse facilities.

Question: If an employee provides an I-9 document that’s subject to photo matching in E-Verify, can an employer ask or require the employee to provide a copy of the document to use during the E-Verify process?

In April 2011, the Social Security Administration resumed the practice of sending no-match letters, which notify an employer of a discrepancy between information they reported on an employee’s W-2 form and information in the SSA’s database. The DOJ's Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices recently issued the following “do’s and don’ts” regarding no-match letters:

Q. We are interested in hiring someone who is currently working for another company in H-1B status. Do we have to file a new H-1B application before this person can work for our company? If so, how long do we have to wait until he can start work?

You may have noticed a slight chill in the air recently. For the second time this year, ICE has notified 1,000 employers that it plans to inspect their Form I-9 records. Whether your company has received a Notice of Intent to Audit or you have been lucky enough to avoid one until now, it is important to understand how a NOI may impact your organization.

On June 23, Gov. Bev Perdue signed legislation that requires private em­­ployers with at least 25 employees and all county and city governments to use the federal government’s online E-Verify system to verify that new hires are eligible to work in the United States.

Q. Our company needs guidance on keeping up with our obligations with regard to employment eligibility. What resources are available?

Q. We use an electronic I-9 software system that was developed in-house. How can we ensure it complies with federal law?