Straight from the 'Dumber than Owl Sh*t' file! The .gov is punishing employers for complying with the law requiring them to establish that employees can legally be employed which generally requires VALID documents, which, by definition, cannot be expired.
A lawful permanent resident’s card expires, but their right to work is permanent, and in this case Culinaire was requiring employees to present a renewed permanent resident card to be verified as work-eligible.
To All,
As a student of HR this doesn't surprise me. Too many employers are woefully ignorant of the laws and fail to follow them out of ignorance.
What this story is NOT showing is: when was the employer notified that their actions might be illegal? Were they ever given a warning that they are acting in a discriminatory manner under the law? Did they fail to consider any such warnings they might have received?
It would appear on its face that the employer initially complied with the law then went above and beyond in a way that was illegal. I agree with GodFearinGunToten that it isn't necessarily logical, but since the right to work is permanent, once verified you can't keep asking for it again without acting in a discriminatory manner.
On a side note the same employer in Indiana would be facing the same potential fines. Right to Work would not have mattered one iota. Federal laws do NOT go away just because the State doesn't have strong labor laws.
Back on topic this is where ignorance of the law can get someone into trouble. That said, from my very limited understanding most small companies are not slammed like this unless they have had a "discussion" with someone beforehand and just decided to blow them off. I would be very interested in the backstory to this case.
Regards,
Doug
Straight from the 'Dumber than Owl Sh*t' file! The .gov is punishing employers for complying with the law requiring them to establish that employees can legally be employed which generally requires VALID documents, which, by definition, cannot be expired.
I saw a woman in front of me at Chicago Ohare trying to get through TSA security about a week ago with an expired drivers license. They wouldn't let her through. I'd assume your presumption of validity being removed from expired documents is correct.
If the right to work is permanent why do people entering the US under a K1 visa have to file for permission to work (I-765)?If the right it work is "permanent" why does the card bother expiring? Seems like to a reasonable person an expired document becomes invalid, like licenses, passports, etc; but birth certificates and SS cards don't have an expiration date. Otherwise, how would you know if their status was revoked for some reason (felony and such). That company needs to hire a better lawyer.
She should've asked for asylum and stated that she was an illegal. Then she could have gotten through TSA with no forms of ID, and no background check.
Well, there's appears to be a good portion of the story missing.
The story seems to infer Culinaire was requiring valid documentation at the time of hire (of which is almost always made a 'xerox' copy, and/or the dates are noted on the document sheet) then, when the original documents expired, Culinaire was demanding a copy of the renewed document (presuming it was renewed).
That would be a as employees aren't required to go back to HR (or wherever) and present renewed documents every time their old ones (DL, passport, whatever) expire. The documentation presented at initial hiring is solely for the purpose of showing that the person is legal and employable at the time of hire. Not a year or 4 or 10 years later.
However, Culinaire COULD have justified and held that practice IF Culinaire required all employees to provide renewed documentation as a 'condition of continued employment'.
Since Culinaire apparently only required renewed documentation for non-resident employees, the practice would indeed, be discriminatory.
Fire the head of HR for that one. The HR Dept. should have certainly known better, without doubt.