ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 71
(By Senator Hunter)
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[Originating in the Committee on Labor;
reported February 4, 2004.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §21-1B-1, §21-1B-2 and §21-1B-3 of the
code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to
verifying legal employment status of workers employed in West
Virginia; defining "unauthorized workers"; and permitting
division of labor permits as proof of employment.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §21-1B-1, §21-1B-2 and §21-1B-3
of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 1B. VERIFYING LEGAL EMPLOYMENT STATUS OF WORKERS.
§21-1B-1. Findings; policy.
The Legislature finds that employers have the responsibility
to check the residence status of their prospective employees and to verify the legal employment status of all persons who come into
their employ and to report their employment to the appropriate
governmental agencies. Employers are precluded from hiring illegal
aliens unauthorized workers and can be penalized for doing so.
Additionally, employers owe a duty to the legal residents of the
state to uphold the intent and integrity of the general workforce
due to the potential loss of revenue to the state by loss of taxes,
unemployment premiums and workers' compensation premiums.
§21-1B-2. Definitions.
(a) "Employer" means any individual, person, corporation,
department, board, bureau, agency, commission, division, office,
company, firm, partnership, council or committee of the state
government, public benefit corporation, public authority or
political subdivision of the state or other business entity which
employs or seeks to employ an individual or individuals.
(b) "Commissioner" means the labor commissioner or his or her
designated agent.
(c) "Alien" means any individual who is not a natural born or
naturalized citizen of the United States "Unauthorized worker"
means a person who does not have the legal right to be employed or
is employed in violation of law.
(d) "Records" means those records as that may be required by
the commissioner of labor for the purposes of compliance with the
provisions of this article.
§21-1B-3. Unauthorized workers; employment prohibited.
(a) It is unlawful for any employer to employ, hire, recruit, or refer, either for him or herself or on behalf of another, for
private or public employment within the state, an alien who is not
duly authorized to work by the immigration laws or the attorney
general of the United States unauthorized worker who is not duly
authorized to be employed by law.
(b) Employers shall be required to verify a prospective
employee's legal status or authorization to work prior to employing
the individual or contracting with the individual for employment
services.
(c) For purposes of this article, proof of legal status or
authorization to work includes, but is not limited to, a valid
social security card, a valid immigration or nonimmigration visa
including photo identification, a valid birth certificate, a valid
passport, a valid photo identification card issued by a government
agency, a valid work permit or supervision permit authorized by the
division of labor, a valid permits permit issued by the department
of justice or other valid document providing evidence of legal
residence or authorization to work in the United States: Provided,
that for an alien, such identification must include some form of
photo identification.
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