Recently, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1718. Among its many implications, this Bill allows for criminal penalties and/or fines for employers who fail to adhere to the E-Verify system requirement for confirming the legal status of potential employees. It also imposes criminal (third degree felony) penalties on unauthorized aliens who knowingly provide false identification documents to secure employment. In addition, the Bill requires any hospital that accepts Medicaid to include a question about the patient's citizenship status on its admission/registration form. Why should this concern me as an employer or insurance carrier?
There are certain industries with disparate hiring of undocumented workers. While some businesses may avoid such hiring practices due to Senate Bill 1718, others may seek ways to work around these newly imposed obligations.
This scenario generates numerous logistical concerns. For example, if a business knowingly employs an undocumented worker who later gets injured, the business and the injured worker may attempt to avoid the workers' compensation system due to the penalties imposed by this Bill. The employer may not report the claim for fear that their hiring practices will be exposed; the...
An Orange County man with multiple prior fraud convictions has been sentenced in California federal court to 30 years in prison for his role in a $270 million Medi-Cal prescription drug... To view ...