It was reported in the local Los Angeles NBC News station that Gubernatorial Candidate, Meg Whitman, has admitted she employed an undocumented worker for the past nine years. Her staff has claimed that the fact that this worker wasn’t legally eligible to work in the United States only came to their attention recently. As far as I am concerned, we can take Whitman at her word in not knowing her hire was an illegal immigrant. She hired this person nine years ago, and back then fewer people conducted background checks to ascertain the eligibility of their employment candidates.
Now these background checks are commonplace. Those employers who have federal contracts are mandated to conduct the E-Verify I-9 background check to ascertain eligibility. Other employers may run the Social Security Trace to verify the authenticity of the job applicant’s social security number. In any case these are a commonplace background searches in just about every pre-employment screening program.
Today, with federal and local governments cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers, there are possible stiff fines, litigation costs, and even possible business closure. There are concerns for the embarrassing circumstances as these cases make the news and incur negative responses from clients and the public in general. This is best evidenced by Meg Whitman’s situation, a woman running for office on a tough immigration enforcement policy and having unknowingly an undocumented worker in her employ.
Such is life. And one more reason to check them out before you hire.
