Dive Brief:
- The Trump administration’s immigration policy might silence undocumented workers who witness but won’t report workplace violations out of fear of being deported, reports Bloomberg BNA.
- Raids on immigrant workers has raised fear and concern, Adrienne DerVartanian, director of immigration and labor rights at Farmworker Justice, told Bloomberg. She said wage and hour violations against undocumented immigrants are common, especially for women. Employers are also on high alert, since the current administration looks ready to crack down on any violations.
- Pres. Donald Trump’s executive orders, backed by Department of Homeland Security memorandums, has made almost every undocumented immigrant subject to deportation, says Bloomberg.
Dive Insight:
Pres. Donald Trump is fulfilling his promise to crack down on undocumented immigrants with his executive orders. However, the fear that raids and possible deportment generate might allow more workplace violations to go unreported, potentially leading to a spate of workplace problems.
The Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission has vowed to protect immigrants’ rights. It's currently unknown how the Trump administration EEOC will go after such issues, but as of right now, employers should assume that nothing has changed.
HR manages the “port of entry” into their organizations — something that looks to be tightly watched by the new administration. That means employers will need to be extra wary that potential hires have all the required pre-employment documents, including the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ redesigned Form I-9. E-verify was also mentioned during the election, and that may come up again here soon.
