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Amendment to Illegal Aliens Employment Statute Effective January 1, 2008
Tennessee Code Annotated § 50-1-103 provides that individuals, corporations, partnerships, associations, and other legal entities "shall not knowingly employ, recruit, or refer for a fee for employment" any undocumented workers. An amendment to this statute, signed into law by Governor Bredesen on June 26, 2007, and scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2008, creates new procedures for suspending the business licenses of employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers.
First-time violators of the statute face suspension of their business license in addition to any penalties under federal law. Following a first violation, the employer's license will be restored upon the filing of an affidavit stating that the employer no longer employs undocumented workers. For second or subsequent violations within a three-year time period, employers face suspension of their license for one full year. The statute provides that employers who verify employment by completing a federal "Form I-9" within fourteen days of employment cannot be found to have violated the statute, even if the documentation provided by the employee later proves to be false. Thus, it is critical that employers timely complete the I-9 for all employees.
On June 5, 2007, the Department of Homeland Security updated the Form I-9, and, as of November 7, 2007, employers must use the updated form for all new hires and for all existing employees who require re-verification. Use of the updated form can be critical, because the "List of Acceptable Documents" for verification has changed. Specifically, the Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-570); Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570); Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-151); Unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327); and Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571) have been removed from List A of the List of Acceptable Documents, and the Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) has been added to List A. |
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