The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently settled with private employers over allegations of discrimination in their hiring practices. The allegations cited how the private employers violated the Immigration and Nationality Act. These agreements involved almost $1,000,000 in civil penalties.

The investigation by the DOJ into the claims started after a lawful permanent resident tipped them off. The resident informed them that a third-party job recruitment platform advertised a job only for United States citizens. The Immigration and Nationality Act prohibits this. In addition, this Act bans some types of employment discrimination based on national origin or citizenship status when hiring or recruiting.

The DOJ discovered several allegedly discriminatory job announcements on the reported website and other platforms operated by universities and colleges. The companies involved in the settlements denied any liability. Additionally, some employers stated that the colleges running the recruiting media were responsible for the alleged discriminatory violations. The DOJ remarked that employers are liable when the job posting for their jobs discriminates based on a potential applicant’s immigration status or citizenship.

This settlement shows how important it is to ensure your company’s recruiting and hiring practices comply with the Immigration and Nationality Act. However, there are steps your company can take to stay in compliance with the law, such as:

• Evaluate your company’s anti-discrimination policy and ensure it complies with state, local, and federal laws.
• Place your legal counsel or a group of workers in charge of ensuring that your recruitment and hiring processes, including operating materials and training practices, comply with applicable laws.
• Make sure your recruiter knows what they can legally ask applicants about their employment authorization and immigration status.
• Provide training for your recruiters and other hiring personnel; document the training. Also, be sure to provide periodic follow-up training and record this.
• Analyze your company’s current job postings and be sure they are not violating anti-discrimination laws. Your company could also include anti-discrimination policies as part of the job posting.
• Before your company participates in a job fair, look at the policies and language of the organization hosting it. Additionally, ensure that any automated systems or hiring questionnaires used by the fair job provider comply with non-discrimination laws.
• Do not ask an applicant to present any employment eligibility verification documents or request that they complete Form I-9 until they accept the job offer.

After hiring an employee, it will be necessary to complete Form I-9. Unfortunately, the varying documents employees may present during this process make completing the Form I-9 challenging. Therefore, it’s easy to make costly mistakes. The best way to ensure completed and correct Form I-9s is to invest in an electronic I-9 management system. Electronic tools help avoid expensive mistakes, guide employers through the entire process, and safely secure the completed forms for future use.

Ensure compliance today by switching to an electronic I-9 management tool with I-9 Compliance.

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