HB4198 HFA Ridenour 2-5 #1

Wiseman 3295

Delegate Ridenour moved to amend the committee substitute for House Bill 4198 on page 2, section 2, line 38, immediately after the period, by inserting the following new section:

“§21-1B-3. Unauthorized workers; employment prohibited.

(a) It is unlawful for any employer to knowingly employ, hire, recruit or refer, either for him or herself or on behalf of another, for private or public employment within the state, an 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 permit issued by the Department of Justice or other valid document providing evidence of legal residence or authorization to work in the United States.

(d) For purposes of enforcing the provisions of this article, and notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, the commissioner or his or her authorized representative may access information maintained by any other state agency, including, but not limited to, the Bureau of Employment Programs and the Division of Motor Vehicles, for the limited purpose of confirming the validity of a worker's legal status or authorization to work. The commissioner shall promulgate rules in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code to safeguard against the release of any confidential or identifying information that is not necessary for the limited purpose of enforcing the provisions of this article.

(e)(1) All employers as deﬁned in section two of this article shall register and create an E-Verify employer account;

(2) After hiring an employee, an employer shall employ provisionally a new employee until the new employee’s work authorization has been veriﬁed pursuant to this section. An employer shall submit a new employee’s name and information for veriﬁcation even if the new employee’s employment is terminated less than three business days after becoming employed.

(3) If a new employee’s work authorization is not veriﬁed by the federal work authorization program, a private employer may not employ, continue to employ, or reemploy the new employee.

(4) All employers shall keep a record of the veriﬁcation for the duration of the employee’s employment with the employer or three years, whichever is longer.

(f) An employer is not required to comply with this section if:

(1) An employee was hired by the employer prior to the day of amendment of this section;

(2) The employer is not required to verify or reverify the employee’s eligibility to work pursuant to federal law.

(g) An employer may not employ any employee who meets the deﬁnition of Unauthorized Worker as deﬁned in section three of this article. Failure to comply with requirements in sections two or three of this article shall be presumed to be violations of this section.”

Adopted

Rejected