Do You Know How to Deal with a Social Security No-Match Letter?
A friend of mine, who happens to be a Human Resource (HR) professional, asked me to speak at an HR roundtable last week. The attendees were all seasoned HR professionals who worked for large multinational companies. I figured they knew most of the ‘basics’ of corporate immigration law and the cross-border movement of employees, so I decided to focus solely on recent ‘hot topics’ in PERM labor certifications, H-1B visas, L-1 visas for intra-company transfers, TN NAFTA visas, F-1 students and I-9 issues.
A friend of mine, who happens to be a Human Resource (HR) professional, asked me to speak at an HR roundtable last week. The attendees were all seasoned HR professionals who worked for large multinational companies. I figured they knew most of the ‘basics’ of corporate immigration law and the cross-border movement of employees, so I decided to focus solely on recent ‘hot topics’ in PERM labor certifications, H-1B visas, L-1 visas for intra-company transfers, TN NAFTA visas, F-1 students and I-9 issues.
After close to an hour and a half of discussing the latest trends in these areas, I was curious to see what questions these HR professionals were going to ask at the end of the presentation. Interestingly, most of the questions were related to I-9 issues and enforcement. For an HR professional, this was the real hot topic of the moment!
Why would HR professionals be concerned about I-9 issues?
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sent thousands of ‘random’ I-9 audit notices to companies over the last few years. Even companies who go to great lengths to ensure proper compliance with I-9 laws are concerned with these ICE audits.
Specifically, HR professionals are worried about what to do with Social Security (SS) ‘no match’ letters. Does a SS no-match letter put an employer on ‘constructive notice’ that a worker is not authorized to work? If it does, then an employer can be held civilly or criminally liable for employing a worker who is not authorized to work.
As with many areas of law, this one falls within a ‘grey area’, one where there is no great and easy answer. However, given the concern expressed by many HR professionals and employers regarding the SS ‘no match’ letter issue, we have decided to give you our thoughts on the topic in a Webinar to be presented on Wednesday April 13, 2011.
Topic: Social Security No-Match Letters and I-9 Compliance
Date: Wed., April 13, 2011 from 10:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.
Visit our website for upcoming event details and registration.
Tags: Corporate Immigration, H1B, Human Resource Profiessionals, I-9, I-9 Compliance, L1, Mismatch Letters, PERM, Social Security No Match Letters