LC/DBM provides landscape contractors with Educational, Imaginative and Practical information about their business, their employees, their machines and their projects.
Issue link: https://landscapecontractor.epubxp.com/i/221892
bringing every U.S. employer into the EVerify electronic employment verification system. The compliance provisions are extremely detailed and may change, but the requirement to bring every employer into the system will most certainly remain, as will the obligation not to discriminate and provide worker protections. While the effects of CIR on the landscape and nursery industries remain uncertain, in the meantime, immigration attorneys can guide and assist employers and employees in navigating the complex immigration and employment verification rules to help fend off potential liabilities. Gretel Ness and Dagmar Butte are immigration attorneys at Parker Butte & Lane. The firm provides complete and personalized immigration services for its corporate, individual and nonprofit clients. As part of their work, they advise clients on I-9, E-Verify and all aspects of employment authorization verification compliance. For more information, visit pbl.net. LC DBM W-2/3 Visas For Agricultural Workers – The Blue Card Certain individuals who can document a specific amount of qualifying agricultural work during the two-year period ending December 31, 2012, may apply for the socalled "Blue Card," as can their spouses and minor children, so long as they were physically present on December 31, 2012. Persons outside the U.S. who have previously been H-2A temporary agricultural workers may also apply. The application period is one year from the date the final rule first appears in the Federal Register and may be extended for 18 months. The penalty fee at present is set at $100, which is substantially lower than the RPI penalty of $1,000, but will be subject to change. Those in removal proceedings or with final orders may apply for the Blue Card. The period of Blue Card status is limited to eight years, extensions are not permitted, and Blue Card holders are subject to the same travel, tax filing, and benefit eligibility limitations as RPIs. Non-Immigrant Visas S.B. 744 also creates new W-2 and W-3 non-immigrant visas for agricultural workers entering into contract based or at-will employment with a Designated Agricultural Employer (DAE) – a designation for which the employer must register – for an initial period of three years with one three-year renewal. The spouses and minor children of the worker will not receive any kind of immigration benefits as dependents under this program, which will replace the current H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa. For the initial five years of the program, these visas will be limited to 112,333 per annum unless a severe labor shortage is declared. There are a number of detailed provisions relating to contract and employment requirements and worker protections, and the program has very specific timing and recruitment provisions. These provisions may change, but will almost certainly include a recruitment requirement and worker protection provisions. Employment Verification And Employer Liability S.B. 744 maintains and strengthens existing prohibitions against hiring unauthorized foreign workers and expands them to persons who recruit or refer these individuals. The bill provides worker protections and an affirmative defense for employers who complied with existing document verification and E-Verify systems in good faith. The bill also establishes a five-year schedule for Information Request # 657 December 2013 21